^— 


THE    PRESENT    CHURCH    EDIFICE, 
DEDICATED  JAN.  20,  1836. 


THE 


FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH, 


EAST  HARTFORD,  CONNECTICUT, 


I7CX2  —  1QCX2. 


\V1LLIAM     BODLE     TUTHILIv,     F»astor. 


HARTKOBD: 

Press  of  THK  HARTFORD  PRINTING  Co., 

(Elihu  C.eer  Sons,) 

16  State  Street. 

1902. 


O  send  o^lt  thy  light  and  thy  truth;  let  them  lead  me: 
Let  them  bring  me  unto  thy  holy  hill,  and  to  thy  tabernacles, 

—  Psalm  xliii:  3. 


All  space  is  holy;  for  all  space 
Is  filled  by  Thee ;  but  human  thought 
Burns  clearer  in  some  chosen  place, 
"Where  Thy  oWii  Words  of  loVe  are  taught. 

Here  be  they  taught;  and  may  We  knoW 
That  faith  Thy  servants  kneW  of  old, 
"Which  onWard  bears  through  Weal  and  Woe, 
Till  Death  the  gates  of  heaVen  unfold. 

Nor  We  alone:  may  those  Whose  broW 
ShoWs  yet  no  trace  of  human  cares, 
Hereafter  stand  Where  We  do  noW, 
And  raise  to  Thee  still  holier  prayers. 

—  ANDREWS  NORTON. 


2012374 


PREFACE. 


The  Two  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  First  Congre- 
gational Church  of  East  Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  observed 
May  25-27,  1902.  The  event  was  a  most  happy  one  and  that 
some  of  the  good  things  said  and  done  may  the  longer  abide 
with  us  and  be  the  better  preserved  for  those  who  come  after 
us,  the  church  issues  this  commemorative  volume. 

Many  things  which  contribute  to  the  enjoyment  and 
profit  of  such  a  festival  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  report. 
Old  friendships  were  renewed.  "Why  its  like  the  general  res- 
urrection of  the  dead!"  said  good  Pastor  Holmes.  Fragrant 
memories  were  brought  to  us  out  of  the  past.  The  spirit  of 
the  fathers  came  upon  us.  The  God  of  all  grace  added  His 
blessing. 

The  success  of  the  anniversary  was  the  result  not  only  of 
the  hearty  cooperation  of  the  members  of  the  committees  in 
charge,  but  also  in  no  small  degree  to  the  generous  aid  ren- 
dered by  friends  outside  the  church.  Mindful  of  this  the 
church  would  gladly  acknowledge  its  indebtedness  to  the 
choirs  of  the  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church  of  East  Hartford 
and  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Burnside ;  further 
to  other  fellow  townfolk  and  friends  who  helped  to  make  the 
music  one  of  the  most  pleasing  and  profitable  parts  of  the 
anniversary. 

A  rare  collection  of  articles  of  interest  connected  with 
the  history  of  the  church  and  the  town  added  much  to  the  en- 
joyment of  the  occasion  and  an  acknowledgment  of  indebted- 
ness is  due  to  all  who  loaned  articles  for  that  exhibition. 


Special  thanks  are  due  to  the  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes 
for  his  interest  in  the  anniversary  as  shown  by  the  invalu- 
able service  which  he  rendered. 

The  public  press  was  most  gracious  in  the  notice  taken  of 
our  doings  and  by  careful  reports  has  greatly  assisted  us  in  the 
preparation  of  this  book. 

Finally,  for  full  permission  to  make  use  of  his  valuable 
History  of  East  Hartford,  we  thank  our  fellow  townsman, 
Mr.  Joseph  O.  Goodwin. 

EAST  HARTFORD,   CONN.,  December  31,  1902. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

PREFACE            5 

SERMON             n 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  ADDRESSES, 

John  B.  Smith 24 

Rev.  Theodore  J.   Holmes     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  33 

HISTORY           ............  38 

BIOGRAPHICAL, 

Rev.  Samuel  Woodbridge 58 

Rev.  Eliphalet  Williams,  D.  D 59 

Rev.  Andrew  Yates,  D.  D 65 

Rev.  Samuel  Spring,  D.  D.           .......  67 

Recollections  of  Dr.  Spring           .......  68 

Rev.  Theodore  J.   Holmes    ........  79 

Rev.  Richard  Meredith 80 

Rev.  Charles  Sumner  Nash,  D.  D 81 

Rev.  Samuel  Allan  Barrett            .         .         .         .        .         .         .  85 

Rev.  William  Bodle  Tuthill 86 

MEMORIAL  TABLET, 

By  Whom  Given 87 

Inscription 87 

ADDRESSES, 

Anna  M.  Olmsted 88 

Mrs.  Sara  T.  Kinney 90 

Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes 96 

Rev.  Francis  P.  Bacheler         ........  99 

DEACONS           ............  103 

PRESENT  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH 104 

SOCIETIES  OF  THE  CHURCH 105 

COMMITTEES  ON  BI-CENTENNIAL 106 

HISTORICAL  EXHIBIT       ..........  107 

PROGRAM in 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PRESENT  CHURCH  EDIFICE Frontispiece 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
THE  PULPIT Facing  Page  n 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
CHURCH  AND  CHAPEL  ........  "  18 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 

MEMORIAL  WINDOW         .  .         .         .        .         .        .  "  26 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
MINUTES  OF  FIRST  MEETING 40 

THE  SECOND  MEETING  HOUSE         .         .  ...  43 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
SEATING  PLAN  OF  SECOND  MEETING  HOUSE  ...  46 

THE  ORGAN "  52 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
TOMBSTONE  OF  REV.  SAMUEL  WOODBRIDGE  ....  58 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
PARSON  WILLIAMS, 

House      ..........  "  61 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
Doorway          .........  62 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
Page  of  Sermon     ........  "  62 

Tombstone      .........  64 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 

PORTRAIT  OF  DR.  SPRING        .......  "  67 

PARSONAGE "  75 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 
PORTRAITS, 

Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes "  79 

Rev.  Richard  Meredith "  80 

Rev.  Charles  Sumner  Nash,  D.  D "  82 

Rev.  Samuel  Allan  Barrett "  85 

Rev.  William  Bodle  Tuthill 86 

BOULDER  AND  TABLET    ........  94 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 

COMMUNION  CUPS "          103 

Edward  S.  Goodwin. 

"CHAIR  OF  STATE"        ........  107 

C.  A.  Porter. 

GLIMPSES  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  EXHIBIT          .  "          108 

C.  A.  Porter. 
SITES  OF  HOMES  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS "          in 

H.  D.  Olmsted. 


' 


THE  PULPIT. 


11 


SERMON. 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  LIVING  GOD, 

Rev.  THEODORE  J.   HOLMES. 

This  sermon  was  preached  at  the  opening  service  of  the  Anniver- 
sary, Sunday  morning,  May  twenty-fifth. 


."the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 
—I  Timothy  iii:  15. 


The  thought  revealed  in  these  words  suggests  the  special 
significance  of  our  gathering  to-day.  No  institution  has  a 
right  to  a  birthday  celebration  simply  because  it  is  old  :  "The 
hoary  head  is  a  crown  of  glory  if  it  be  found  in  the  way  of 
righteousness. "  This  two-hundredth  anniversary  means  a  life- 
venerable  not  only  for  age  but  for  character.  It  sobers  us  to 
think  of  the  generations  it  represents.  To  some  of  us  who 
can  remember  nearly  half  a  century  or  more,  who  realize 
how  many,  many  of  whom  we  used  to  know  and  love,  have 
entered  into  rest,  it  seems  somewhat  like  having  lived  in  a 
previous  state  of  existence.  Yet  this  occasion  is  not  a  funeral, 
but  a  festival,  a  glad  thanksgiving  day,  when  we  praise  the 
Heavenly  Father  for  his  wonderful  goodness  and  set  up  here 
our  Ebenezer:  "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us."  Such 
remembrance  is  our  best  inspiration.  We  look  back  that  we 
may  look  .forward,  sure  that  Jehovah,  who  has  been  our  pillar 
of  cloud  and  of  fire  in  the  past  will  be  our  guide  and  strength 
in  years  to  come.  As  one  center  of  such  thoughts  of  praise 
and  hope,  I  take  these  words  of  the  Epistle:  "The  Church  of 
the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 

The  "  truth "  referred  to  here  is  explained  immediately 
after :  '  'And  without  controversy  great  is  the  mystery  of  god- 


12 

liness:  He  who  was  manifested  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the 
spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preached  among  the  nations,  believed  on 
in  the  world,  received  up  in  glory."  Of  this  truth,  the  church 
is  the  pillar,  supports  it  as  a  column  holds  the  roof  of  a  build- 
ing ;  it  is  the  ground,  as  a  foundation  sustains  the  whole  super- 
structures. That  is,  the  stability,  the  existence  of  Christianity 
depends  on  believers  who  together  stand  under  it. 

In  a  Roman  Catholic  cathedral  around  a  dome  in  the  ceil- 
ing, they  have  inscribed  these  words  of  the  apostle,  with  anoth- 
er clause,  "One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.  We  do  not  deny 
their  share  in  the  right  to  such  inscription.  We  honor  them 
for  the  reverence  and  devotion  they  give  their  church,  for  their 
powerful  aid  in  holding  for  the  world,  the  religion  of  the  gospel. 
But  may  not  we  Protestant  people,  too,  write  as  plainly  upon 
the  walls  of  our  sanctuaries.  "The  church  of  the  living  God, 
the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth."  The  philosophy  underly- 
ing this,  with  such  wide  application,  is  one  which  we  can  readily 
comprehend.  All  truth,  to  live  and  bear  fruit,  must  become  in- 
carnate ;  must  come  out  of  abstract  formulas  of  creed  or  philos- 
ophy and  get  itself  into  men  and  women ;  into  a  body  organized, 
equipped,  earnest  for  its  promulgation.  When,  a  generation 
and  more  ago,  Garrison  and  Phillips  and  Whittier  and  Mrs. 
Stowe  and  others  wrote  against  slavery,  what  if  the  spirit  they 
stirred  in  the  land  had  remained  simply  a  feeling,  a  sentiment, 
a  conviction,  would  it  have  accomplished  anything  ?  But  when 
it  took  concrete  form,  in  a  party,  with  a  standard  about  which 
people  could  rally ;  in  a  body  which  had  not  only  a  heart  to  feel, 
but  a  voice  to  speak  and  feet  to  march  and  hands  to  strike,  then 
came  the  great  revolution.  What  is  true  of  this  and  every  other 
reform  is  as  reasonable  in  religion.  Righteousness  prevails  as 
it  is  embodied.  That  is  a  matter  of  history.  How  is  it  that  the 
religion  of  the  Bible  has  been  handed  down  from  generation  to 
generation,  now  for  at  least  four  or  five  thousand  years  ?  The 
only  sufficient  answer  is,  it  has  been  done  by  the  church  of  the 
living  God.  If  the  doctrines  revealed  to  men  at  the  beginning 
had  remained  mere  formulas  of  confession,  would  they  have 
lived  till  now  ? 

The  study  of  comparative  religions,  though  still  in  its  rudi- 
ments, has  yet  given  us  facts  that  are  very  surprising.  For  ex- 


13 

ample,  we  know  that  among  the  ancient  Egyptians,  before 
Moses  and  Abraham,  there  was  more  or  less  prevalent,  with  an 
advanced  civilization,  an  exalted  religious  faith.  They  be- 
lieved, some  at  least  did,  in  one  God,  spiritual,  eternal,  to  whom 
they  offered  prayer  much  like  that  we  offer  to-day.  Why  was 
it  that  a  faith  like  this  became  gradually  perverted,  mixed  with 
polytheism  and  idolatry  and  the  grossest  vice,  till  it  was  finally 
swept  out  of  existence  ?  Because  it  had  no  body,  no  organiza- 
tion, no  divine  church  into  which  the  Holy  Spirit  could  breathe 
perpetual  life.  That  ancient  faith  came,  we  are  sure,  from 
God ;  how  the  revelation  was  made,  what  its  relation  was,  if  it 
had  any,  to  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  we  are  not 
told.  But  while  it  passed  away  so  completely,  why  did  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Jews  continue  down  through  the  centuries  ?  In 
this  connection  we  have  an  interesting  chapter  of  history. 
Abraham  was  born  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Euphrates;  a  land  where  idolatry  prevailed,  but  where  God 
"had  not  left  himself  without  witness."  The  true  faith  was 
known  there,  at  least  by  some  who  were  disposed  to  receive  it. 
Certain  of  the  hymns  used  by  them  resemble  in  spirit  the 
Psalms  of  David,  though  composed  probably  a  thousand  years 
before  his  day.  Now  this  belief,  with  much  other  knowledge, 
in  a  line  with  our  scriptural  revelation,  all  disappeared  from 
that  country,  lost  in  idolatry.  On  the  other  hand  Abraham, 
who,  by  divine  command,  left  his  native  country  and  came  to 
the  land  of  Canaan,  bringing  his  faith  with  him,  established  a 
system  which  though  imperfect  on  many  sides,  took  such  deep 
root  that  it  has  been  ever  since  the  supreme  religion  of  the 
world.  What  was  the  secret  ?  How  could  he  hand  his  faith 
down  to  his  seed  and  to  theirs  after  them  ?  The  only  explanation 
is  that  it  was  conserved  by  the  church  which  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  inaugurate.  He  was  the  father  of  the  faithful.  From 
him  sprang  the  institutions  and  laws  which  kept  Israel  a  pecu- 
liar people.  Stephen's  expression  in  the  Acts.  "The  church  in 
the  wilderness, "  means  the  congregation,  the  general  body  of 
those  who  believed  in  Jehovah.  To  them  were  committed  the 
oracles  of  God.  The  preservation  of  pure  religion  rested  with 
them.  ' '  The  Church  of  the  Living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground 
of  the  truth." 


14 

When  we  come  to  New  Testament  times  the  matter  is  still 
more  evident  Jesus  said  to  Peter:  "  On  this  rock  will  I  build 
my  church  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it  " 
Peter  remembered  that  when  he  preached  at  Jerusalem  after  the 
ascension  and  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  with  such  power;  when  he 
saw  the  people  convinced,  pricked  in  the  heart,  persuaded  to 
accept  the  new  religion,  he  said:  "Then  take  your  stand;  or- 
ganize ,  come  into  our  fellowship ;  we  must  hold  together  or  we 
cannot  live.'1  "Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you." 
Baptism  was  the  sign  of  the  covenant  in  the  new  church  as  cir- 
cumcision had  been  in  the  old.  The  three  thousand  converts 
replied:  That  is  reasonable  and  right;  we  will,  and  at  once 
they  joined  the  little  company  of  the  disciples.  It  is  recorded 
that  from  the  very  first  they  "continued  steadfastly  in  the 
Apostles'  teaching  and  fellowship,  in  the  breaking  of  bread  and 
the  prayers.  "And  the  Lord  added  to  them  day  by  day,  those 
that  were  being  saved."  Along  that  line  exactly,  Christianity 
was  developed.  After  this,  there  is  constant  reference  in  the 
history  to  "the  church. "  There  was  a  great  persecution  against 
the  church. "  Saul  made  havoc  of  the  church;"  "Then  had 
the  churches  rest;"  So  were  the  churches  established  in  the 
faith  and  increased  in  number  daily. "  All  this  was  by  divine 
appointment ;  but  it  was  not  merely  a  matter  of  authority,  it  was 
a  necessity.  Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  any  way  in  which  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  could  have  been  started  and  continued 
except  by  such  an  organization ;  its  confessors  standing  togeth- 
er against  all  their  enemies,  praying  and  working  in  unison  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Lord's  kingdom  ?  So,  would  it  be  pos- 
sible for  Christianity  to  survive  in  the  ages  yet  to  come,  except 
as  it  rests  on  the  Church  of  the  Living  God,  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth  ? 

This  general  fact,  which  has  its  basis  so  clearly  in  reason, 
in  revelation  and  in  history,  suggests  one  or  two  inferences 
which  are  worth  our  attention. 

i. — We  see  the  responsibility  which  rests  011  any  individual 
church.  "Truth  "  is  to  be  held  up  by  "the  church  of  the  liv- 
irg  God. "  What  is  that  ?  The  church  invisible  ?  No,  indeed ; 
such  an  expression  is  vague,  intangible ;  it  does  not  suggest  the 
eyes,  ears,  mouth,  feet,  hands  that  are  necessary  for  service; 


15 

the  end  can  be  reached  only  by  separate,  live  churches,  one  by 
one,  each  in  its  own  place,  in  its  own  way,  striving  to  establish 
the  truth.  We  want  a  "church  visible, "  which  is  the  name  they 
once  gave  this  building  where  we  are  assembled,  because  it  was 
seen,  from  afar,  in  all  directions. 

No  one  supposes  that  tLe  division  of  Christian  people  into 
various  denominations  was  a  matter  of  accident;  we  can  see 
how  it  may  have  been  designed  in  order  to  individualize  the 
body,  to  set  every  member  to  work,  to  secure  the  stimulus  com- 
ing from  the  healthy  emulations  which  such  differences  inspire. 
Every  Christian  has  a  right  to  love  his  own  church  better  than 
any  other,  to  be  proud  of  it,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  make  it 
such  that  he  can  be  proud  of  it,  to  be  sure  that  it  is  proud  of 
him ;  not  cherishing  toward  it  any  mere  personal  conceit ;  not 
indulging  a  narrow  bigotry  speaking  of  it  as  the  church,  out  of 
which  everyone  is  practically  a  heathen  and  a  publican,  but  lov- 
ing it  as  a  part  of  Christ's  body,  set  in  the  world  for  its  redemp- 
tion ;  and  while  working  for  it  with  all  his  might,  praying  earn- 
estly, Lord,  "Do  good  in  thy  good  pleasure  unto  Zion;  build 
thou  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. "  Only  so  will  the  kingdom  come. 

Here  in  this  town,  what  has  kept  the  Christian  faith  su- 
preme in  such  degree,  through  these  centuries  ?  The  church  of 
course ;  the  continuous  ministry,  the  continuous  Sabbath  ser- 
vices, with  all  the  various  instrumentalities  by  which  the  body 
of  Christ  has  accomplished  its  mission.  From  the  original  or- 
ganization in  1702,  or  added  to  it,  there  came  in  time  other 
churches  that  have  been  doing  excellent  service  and  it  is  the  in- 
fluence of  these  forces  combined  that  has  kept  this,  till  to-day, 
a  Christian  community.  So  it  is  throughout  the  land. 

When  it  is  said  the  church  stands  under  the  truth  we  are 
thinking  of  course  not  only  of  intellectual  faith,  but  of  faith 
vitalized,  bearing  its  appropriate  fruit. 

"  From  scheme  and  creed  the  light  goes  out, 
The  saintly  fact  survives, 
The  blessed  Master  none  can  doubt, 
Revealed  in  holy  lives/' 

The  "truth"  means,  brotherhood,  love  that  reaches  out  to 
the  whole  human  race.  In  the  year  1800,  the  General  Associa- 
tion of  Connecticut  decided  to  send  a  missionary  "far  hence  to 


16 

the  heathen;"  that  meant — as  it  was  explained — to  "the  Indian 
tribes  in  the  unknown  wilderness  beyond  Lake  Erie. "  The  first 
missionary  set  out  from  Hartford,  "not  only  alone  but  on  foot 
and  with  his  luggage  on  his  back,  to  rejoice  in  whatever  oppor- 
tunities he  might  find  of  being  helped  along  by  any  charitable 
traveler  with  a  spare  seat  in  his  wagon."  That  was  a  small 
start,  not  more  than  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  but  the  seed  grew, 
in  our  own  denomination  and  others  till  it  became  a  mighty 
power ;  "  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations."  So  that  the  century  then  opening  witnessed,  before 
its  close,  wider  gain  in  missionary  work  than  had  been  achieved 
in  all  the  years  since  Christianity  began. 

But  the  brotherly  love  inspired  by  the  truth  reaches  not 
only  people  at  the  ends  of  the  earth,  but  those  as  well  who  are 
just  about  us ;  reaches  them  with  a  gospel  not  simply  for  the 
life  to  come,  but  for  the  life  that  now  is,  in  all  its  manifold 
needs  and  concerns. 

President  Roosevelt,  this  last  week,  at  the  Presbyterian 
Home  Mission  Centennial  in  New  York,  spoke  of  "the  one 
hundred  years  of  earnest  effort  to  spread  abroad  the  gospel,  to 
lay  deep  the  moral  foundations  upon  which  true  national  great- 
ness must  rest. " 

This  utterance,  by  our  chief  magistrate,  voices  the  best 
sentiment  of  the  land  concerning  the  beneficent  effects  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  church  is  every  way  man's  best  friend.  We 
Christians  obey  the  first  great  commandment  only  as  we  obey 
the  second.  With  regard  to  the  social  questions  which  are  under 
discussion,  complaint  is  sometimes  made  that  preachers  do  not 
lay  down  the  law  on  the  subject  more  definitely ;  but  the  fact 
is  preachers  do  not  always  know  what  the  law  is,  in  its  specific 
applications.  Nobody  knows.  Authors  who  write  books  like 
"Looking  Backward  "do  not  know;  theoretical  reformers  and 
professors  do  not  know ;  we  Christian  people,  among  the  rest, 
are  at  sea,  but  we  have  this  advantage,  we  have  an  anchor  sure 
and  steadfast,  our  rule  of  brotherly  love.  It  is  a  sign  of  pro- 
gress that  in  the  solution  of  these  problems,  the  churches  are 
taking  a  more  definite  and  persistent  share,  through  their  insti- 
tutional methods,  their  theological  seminaries  and  otherwise; 
accepting  this  study  as  a  part  of  their  discipleship ;  are  getting 


17 

more  and  more  determined  that  all  their  influence  shall  be  di- 
rected to  establish  the  royal  law  according  to  the  scripture, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

And  all  this  as  a  matter  not  of  benevolence  but  of  justice 
and  right.  In  every  other  particular  as  well  as  this,  truth 
means  righteousness.  We  repudiate,  as  our  fathers  did,  the 
union  of  church  and  state,  yet  there  is  a  sense  in  which  it  might 
be  a  real  good,  if  only  the  church  should  control  the  state,  not 
by  arbitrary,  intolerant  law,  but  by  the  moral  forces  essential 
to  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  Indeed,  is  it  not  true,  in  a  large 
degree,  that  any  community  is  virtually  what  the  church  there 
makes  it.  The  Psalmist  says:  "O  God  .  .  .  thy  right  hand 
is  full  of  righteousness."  What  if  that  could  be  said  uniformly 
of  God's  people ;  a  hand  full,  with  no  room  for  anything  evil ; 
the  right  hand,  where  the  power  lies.  What  an  irresistible  force 
Christendom  would  be,  the  world  over,  if  all  its  strength,  its 
money,  its  learning,  its  social  life,  its  political  energies  were 
spent  continually  in  the  interest  of  righteousness.  The  prophet 
says  to  ancient  Israel:  "Put  on  thy  beautiful  garments,  O 
Jerusalem,"  "Arise,  shine."  The  church  that  shines  is  the 
church  that  wins.  Any  congregation  that  answers  to  this  de- 
scription is  surely  a  part  of  the  "Church  of  the  Living  God,  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 

2. — Another  inference  from  the  Apostle's  words  is:  We 
see  the  privilege  of  belonging  to  the  church  of  Christ.  If 
it  has  indeed  such  a  vital  office,  any  one  may  well  covet  the 
honor  of  sharing  its  responsibilities.  Belonging  to  it  does  not 
mean  membership  merely ;  that  alone  would  never  hold  up  the 
truth;  it  might  work  the  other  way;  as  mere  bulk  in  an  army 
may  be  its  ruin,  if  it  is  not  organized,  drilled  with  the  mind  and 
the  capacity  to  fight. 

It  is  belonging  to  a  church  that  helps ;  as  you  speak  of  be- 
longing to  a  party,  pledging  it  your  hearty  support ;  as  you  be- 
long to  a  firm  in  business,  engaging  to  perform  certain  service, 
to  furnish  certain  capital,  expecting  to  be  faithful  to  such  cove- 
nant on  your  honor  as  a  man ;  as  you  belong  to  an  army,  sur- 
rendering your  will,  absolutely,  the  hardest  sacrifice  a  soldier 
has  to  make,  offering  your  life  for  its  flag.  Belonging  to  a 
church  means  all  this  and  more;  you  have  given  yourself  to 


18 

its  service;  you  are  not  your  own  any  longer,  seeking  just  your 
personal  gratification  and  gain ;  you  have  entered  into  covenant 
with  it,  to  seek  its  good,  to  maintain  its  honor,  to  accomplish  its 
mission.  We  must  keep  in  mind  our  individual  accountability, 
"Ye  are  the  body  of  Christ  and  members  in  particular."  Every 
member  has  his  own  particular  function.  One  of  the  earliest 
acts  of  this  parish,  mentioned  in  Mr.  Goodwin's  history,  was  to 
vote,  "a  rate  of  three  and  a  half  pennies  in  the  pound  to  sat- 
isfy the  Rev.  John  Reed  for  his  pains  in  the  ministry  among 
us."  Again,  when  in  1704  they  decided  to  fortify  certain  houses 
on  this  side  of  the  river  against  the  .Indians,  a  committee  was 
appointed  ' '  to  proportion  each  man's  share  that  he  is  to  doe  of 
said  fortification." 

So  early  did  they  emphasize  the  principle  of  proportionate 
giving  and  proportionate  work,  which  we  regard  a  vital  law  to- 
day, that  there  may  be  no  talent  hidden,  no  power  wasted,  no 
light  that  does  not  shine.  This  is  what  supports  the  truth. 
A  historian  says :  "  Rome  fell  in  its  last  days  because  no  one  be- 
longed to  it."  That  is,  everybody  was  living  for  self  and  not  for 
country.  So,  any  church  is  alive  according  to  the  number  of 
those  who  belong  to  it.  Paul  writing  the  Galations,  refers  to 
"James,  Cephas  and  John  who  seemed  to  be  pillars  "  there;  of 
every  other  congregation  since  then,  it  might  be  said  of  certain 
men  and  women;  they  seem  to  be  its  pillars;  they  support, 
stand  under  all  its  life  and  work.  To  some  of  us  the  record  of 
the  last  half  century  suggests  names  with  which  we  are  very 
familiar,  of  those  who  have  been  among  the  pillars  of  this 
church ;  we  should  like  a  list  of  them  from  the  beginning. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  any  who  belong  to  Christ,  to  belong 
to  his  church. 

Much  might  be  said,  naturally,  of  the  obligations  to  con- 
fess the  Saviour  before  men.  A  distinguished  scholar  in  this 
country  who  had  always  believed  in  Christianity  but  claimed  he 
could  work  for  it  as  well,  in  his  individual  capacity  as  a  student 
and  a  man,  came  to  see  his  mistake  and  joined  the  church,  say- 
ing in  his  public  confession:  "  Reflection  upon  the  superior  val- 
ue of  organized  over  unorganized  Christian  life  made  the  step 
a  positive  duty. "  Why  is  not  that  sound  ?  For  anyone  who 
believes  in  the  gospel  and  wants  it  to  triumph,  to  stand  off  and 


CHURCH    AND    CHAPEL. 


19 

say,  "  God  bless  you, "  without  lending  a  hand,  without  com- 
mitting himself,  openly  and  faithfully  to  its  service,  is  as  though 
a  man  in  the  Civil  War,  seeing  the  desperate  straits  of  the  gov- 
ernment, should  have  stood  off  and  said,  "Mr.  Lincoln,  God 
bless  you;  you  are  doing  a  good  work;  the  flag  ought  to  be  hon- 
ored, the  Union  preserved ;  it  is  a  pity  you  do  not  have  better 
support.-"  Saying  all  this,  fervently,  without  enlisting,  putting 
on  the  uniform,  going  to  the  front,  or,  if  obliged  to  stay  at 
home,  withoutvtaking  sides  actively  for  the  Union  !  With  such 
loyalty  to  the  flag  the  government  would  have  gone  down ;  with 
such  loyalty  to  God,  Christianity  would  go  down.  Christ  has 
appointed  his  church  as  his  army  which,  alone,  by  his  grace  can 
establish  the  truth;  how  can  anyone  who  believes  in  Him  fail 
to  see  his  individual  responsibility  to  the  church  of  Christ  !  A 
man  in  East  Hartford  once  said  to  me:  "Pastor  you've  seen 
me  often  among  your  hearers,  but  never  among  your  helpers. 
I've  always  thought  of  myself  as  belonging  to  the  reserved 
corps  of  the  Lord's  army;  but  now  it  does  seem  to  me  high  time 
the  reserves  were  called  up,  and  you  may  count  on  me  from  this 
time  on."  Are  there  not  some  of  you  in  this  congregation  who 
ought  to  enlist,  straightway,  like  that  ? 

The  church  invites  earnestly  the  co-operation  of  all  who 
approve  its  mission.  We  offer  them  a  share  with  us  in  work 
which  is  calculated  to  promote  the  best  good  of  this  community, 
and  the  advancement  of  the  Divine  Kingdom  —  a  share  in  win- 
ning the  triumph  which  is  sure  to  come.  We  are  not  blind  to 
the  conditions  and  forces  which  stand  in  the  way  of  victory,  but 
we  are  confident  they  will  be  all  overcome.  It  is  obvious  that 
in  some  quarters  the  standard  of  truth  has  greatly  changed. 
The  Saybrook  Fathers,  two  hundred  years  ago,  said:  "That 
your  faith  be  right  and  divine,  the  word  of  God  must  be  the 
foundation  of  it  and  the  authority  of  the  word  the  reason  of  it." 
But  now  we  hear  the  declaration  that  final  authority  lies  not  in 
the  scripture,  but  in  the  individual  consciousness.  That  we  are 
to  believe  only  what  seems  to  us  true;  that  objective  history  is 
of  no  account;  that  subjectivity  is  the  only  real  thing,  etc.  We 
are  told  this  view  prevails  now  largely  among  philosophers  of 
Germany,  but  it  is  no  new  idea,  no  modern  invention  even  there. 
A  writer  mentions  the  fact  that  in  Voltaire's  day,  in  the  eigh- 


20 

teenth  century,  he  had  the  patronage,  the  hearty  support  of  all 
the  most  potent  forces  of  the  government  and  of  society.  On 
the  throne  sat  a  powerful  monarch,  Frederick  II.,  who  was  an 
open  and  zealous  deist.  He  filled  the  university  with  professors 
who  taught  his  doctine.  The  great  libraries,  under  his  control, 
spread  the  teachings  far  and  wide.  In  every  way,  to  the  end 
of  his  reign  his  powerful  influence  was  used  to  banish  the  super- 
natural from  the  scriptures  and  to  make  them  a  mere  human 
book,  of  use  only  so  far  as  it  accorded  with  human  reason.  Yet 
Christianity  still  lives  in  Germany.  When  recently  they  laid 
in  Berlin  the  corner-stone  of  the  American  church  our  minister 
to  that  country,  Andrew  D.  White,  a  man  of  great  mind,  of 
wide  learning,  of  most  tolerant  religious  spirit,  delivered  an  ad- 
dress in  which  he  said:  "  Never  was  the  Christian  church,  in 
all  its  branches,  so  pure,  so  earnest,  so  devoted  to  good  works 
as  now.  .  .  .  More  and  more  Christianity  centers  in  love 
to  God  and  love  to  man,  and  hence  are  evolved  multitudes  of 
blessings  in  all  nations."  So  the  philosopher  and  the  King  and 
the  rest  of  them  did  not  accomplish  their  end.  It  is  a  relief  to 
some  of  us  who  are  unable  to  apprehend  all  the  problems  in- 
volved in  the  more  advanced  critical  study,  to  know  that,  to  a 
large  extent,  its  leaders  hold  as  resolutely  as  any  of  us  to  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  scriptures  as  the  word  of  God.  What 
a  turmoil  of  thought  we  are  in,  nowadays,  about  the  things  we 
do  not  understand ;  about  all  the  strange  mysteries  of  matter 
and  of  mind ;  about  the  meaning  of  human  life  for  this  world 
and  beyond.  But  let  us  remember  thankfully  that  no  one  needs 
to  wait  till  all  these  questions  are  settled  before  coming  into  the 
Lord's  kingdom.  The  truth  is  so  simple.  Accepting  Jesus 
Christ  for  our  master  we  may  bring  all  our  perplexities  to  him. 
He  knows.  His  spirit  will  lead  us  into  all  truth.  The  vital 
question  is;  are  we  willing  to  take  His  yoke  and  learn  of  Him, 
without  any  reservation,  in  love  and  trust  and  faithful  obedi- 
ence ? 

And  while  this  fundamental  faith,  the  sufficiency  of  which 
we  are  learning  better  these  later  years,  is  being  held  up  by  the 
church  of  the  living  God  everywhere,  it  need  not  be  a  matter 
of  alarm  that  so  many  adversaries  are  striking  at  the  founda- 
tions of  Christianity.  When  the  old  prophet,  that  day,  hiding 


21 

in  the  cave,  thought  in  his  pessimistic  mood  he  was  the  only 
man  in  that  region  faithful  to  Jehovah,  the  Lord  said  to  him : 
"Yet  I  have  left  me  seven  thousand  in  Israel,  all  the  knees 
which  have  not  bowed  unto  Baal."  There  is  a  tonic  to 
our  faith.  When  the  forces  just  about  us,  within  our  vision, 
which  make  for  righteousness,  seem  so  few  comparatively, 
against  all  the  forces  of  evil,  then  we  need  to  keep  in  mind 
that  the  Lord  has  a  countless  host  of  helpers  whom  we  do  not 
see,  who  are  true  to  him.  Above  all  it  is  our  comfort  to  know 
that  we  have  with  us  Elijah's  God. 

Our  Saviour  said  to  the  apostles  before  he  left  them:  "All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore 
and  disciple  all  nations."  Therefore,  because  all  power  is  given 
unto  me,  I  will  give  it  unto  you ;  there  are  not  many  of  you  and 
you  are  weak,  with  small  attainments,  without  worldly  goods 
or  social  position.  Yet,  go  forth,  for  back  of  you  is  the  very 
throne  of  the  Almighty.  They  recalled  this  a  little  later  when 
the  power  fell  at  Pentecost  We  may  not  expect  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  work  now  as  He  did  then  or  as  He  has  done  in  many  later 
awakenings,  but  in  some  way  He  will  work  mightily  if  the 
churches  are  willing.  It  is  said  the  times  have  so  changed  that 
revivals  of  religion  are  not  needed  now ;  but  something  is  needed, 
evidently.  A  minister  has  remarked  that,  at  the  beginning,  one 
sermon  converted  three  thousand  souls,  while  to-day  it  takes 
three  thousand  sermons  to  convert  one  soul.  What  makes  the 
difference  ?  The  Saviour  breathed  upon  the  disciples  and  said, 
"  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost."  They  did,  one  by  one,  receive 
the  gift  and  the  blessing  came ;  it  was  that  breath  which  started 
the  rushing  mighty  wind.  So  true  revival  always  comes.  A 
historian  of  our  Connecticut  churches  says:  "Nothing  but  the 
extraordinary  grace  of  God  in  the  great  awakening  of  1740 
could  have  saved  the  churches  from  apostacy. "  We  need  in 
our  time  to  offer  earnestly  the  prophetic  prayer:  "Awake, 
awake,  put  on  strength,  O  arm  of  the  Lord ;  awake,  as  in  the 
ancient  days,  in  the  generations  of  old."  But  we  want  to  re- 
member, too,  his  appeal,  in  the  same  connection:  "Awake, 
awake,  put  on  thy  strength,  O  Zion. "  Was  there  ever  a  time, 
friends,  more  than  now  when  all  the  hosts  of  God  needed  to 
rally  for  the  defense  of  Christianity  ! 


22 

One  of  the  prophets  describing  the  old  battle  for  the  King- 
dom of  God,  represents  his  enemies  as  personified  by  the  pagan 
ruler,  "Gog  and  his  land  Magog."  Against  this  combined 
force,  Jehovah  summons  his  people,  exhorting  them  to  stand 
together,  saying  to  them,  I  will  stand  with  you,  my  strength 
shall  be  yours :  our  side  will  win.  The  heathen  shall  know 
that  I  am  the  Lord,  the  Holy  One  in  Israel."  Our  hymn  based 
upon  that  prophecy  suggests  a  rally  song  for  our  day. 

"We  are  living,  we  are  dwelling, 

In  a  grand  and  awful  time, 
In  an  age  on  ages  telling ; 

To  be  living  is  sublime. 
Hark,  the  waking  up  of  nations, 

Gog  and  Magog  to  the  fray ; 
Hark,  what  soundeth?  is  creation 
Groaning  for  its  latter  day? 

Worlds  are  charging,  heaven  beholding, 

Thou  hast  but  an  hour  to  fight ; 
Now  the  blazoned  cross  unfolding, 

On,  right  onward  for  the  right! 
On,  let  all  the  soul  within  you 

For  the  truth's  sake  go  abroad ; 
Strike,  let  every  nerve  and  sinew, 

Tell  on  ages,  tell  for  God ! " 

Let  us  believe  that  this  old  First  Church  of  East  Hartford, 
on  this  two  hundredth  anniversary  is  but  renewing  its  youth 
and  is  to  be  in  the  future  centuries  even  more  than  it  has  been 
in  the  past,  for  this  community  and  for  all  the  earth,  a  mighty 
power  for  good,  the  very  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

I  congratulate  you  all,  friends,  who  are  enjoying  such  an 
honorable  relation  to  the  Lord's  everlasting  kingdom,  who  are 
faithfully  standing  under  it  in  its  earthly  mission.  Such 
blessed  service  brings  us  into  fellowship  with  all,  the  world 
over,  disciples  of  every  name,  who  are  working  for  God,  and 
makes  us  with  them,  "fellow  helpers  to  the  truth;"  it  brings 
us  into  fellowship  with  the  redeemed  in  glory,  who  having  been, 
here  or  elsewhere,  pillars  of  the  truth,  have  come  to  the  Mas- 
ter's reward,  promised  in  the  Revelation:  "Him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God;"  it  brings 
us  into  fellowship  with  the  Heavenly  Father  himself  and  with 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost. 


23 


So  with  all  the  good  forces  of  heaven  and  earth,  we  are 
co-operating,  to  bring  the  day  when  "the  Church  of  the 
Living  God "  shall  have  accomplished  its  mission,  when  the 
truth  shall  have  been  forever  established  and  the  world 
redeemed.  "Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the 
power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him  be  the  glory  in  the  church 
and  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations,  forever  and  ever, 
Amen. " 


24 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  SERVICE. 


ADDRESS    BY    JOHN     B.    SMITH. 

Mr.  Smith  served  as  a  deacon  in  this  church  from  1863  until  his  removal  from 
East  Hartford  in  1879.  He  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School  for  about  fifteen 
years.  To  the  people  of  this  church  he  is  still  known  as  "Deacon  Smith,  the  best 
Superintendent  that  the  Sunday  School  ever  had."  As  a  worker  in  the  cause  of 
temperance,  and  as  a  contributor  to  the  columns  of  the  Sunday  School  Times  he  has 
achieved  more  than  a  local  reputation. 


It  means  much  to  me  to  stand  here  this  afternoon  by 
your  kind  invitation  and  to  have  a  part  in  this  commemora- 
tive service  with  my  old  pastor,  confidant,  friend,  Rev.  T.  J. 
Holmes,  the  beloved, — my  beloved. 

On  this  floor  in  front  of  this  altar  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years,  I  first  took  upon  myself  the  public  vows  of  disciple- 
ship.  This  is  the  church  of  my  first  love  and  longest  service. 
The  anticipation  of  this  occasion  has  brought  to  me  a  flood  of 
precious  memories,  some  of  which  I  must  share  with  you. 

But  this  is  a  Sunday  school  service  someone  says, —  or  is  it 
my  own  voice  I  hear, — and  how  inappropriate  old-time  mem- 
ories are  to  little  children.  But  then  is  not  history  appropriate 
to  children?  Is  it  not  biblical  to  tell  of  the  Lord's  ways  and  the 
Lord's  people  to  the  children?  They  need  to  know  something 
of  the  olden  time.  Then,  too,  children  imply  parents.  A  school 
implies  teachers.  The  book  we  study  here  and  the  reasons 
that  we  study  it  interest  all  humanity,  making  an  ideal  Sun- 
day school  an  all  souls  affair.  So  I  am  sure  you  will  indulge 
me  if  I  use  most  of  my  time  in  reminiscence.  But  now  a 
new  difficulty  arises,  that  of  selection. 

Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  whose  name  and  presence 
were  of  old  very  familiar  and  very  welcome  in  this  Sunday 
school,  used  to  tell  of  an  old  lady  who  didn't  like  the  Interna- 
tional Sunday  School  Lessons  because  they  left  out  so  much. 


25 

As  I  look  back,  the  multitude  of  loved  and  honored  faces 
that  hang-  fresh  in  my  heart's  picture  gallery,  and  the  many 
significant  events  of  which  I  would  fain  speak,  and  the  varied 
needs  of  the  occasion  are  so  many,  that  even  if  I  am  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  make  worthy  selections  so  much  will  get  crowded 
out,  that  I  know  that  if  Mr.  Trumbull's  old  lady  is  here  she 
will  be  much  dissatisfied,  and  I  cannot  blame  her  for  I  am  a 
good  deal  dissatisfied  myself. 

Mr.  Samuel  Spring  was  my  first  East  Hartford  pastor. 
Dr.  vSpring,  the  gentleman,  the  peace  lover,  the  kind  neighbor, 
the  thoughtful  friend,  prompt,  self-forgetful,  self-depreciating, 
honored  and  loved  by  all  who  knew  him.  Certainly,  as  was 
appropriate,  there  was  for  the  most  part  great  peace  in  his 
days,  and  in  the  twelve  years  next  thereafter  a  more  quiet 
and  orderly  parish  than  East  Hartford  could  hardly  be  found. 

After  Dr.  Spring  came  Mr.  Holmes,  the  pastor,  the 
builder,  the  brother,  in  the  strength  of  early  manhood,  cour- 
ageous, quick-witted,  sympathetc,  helpful.  We  all  loved  him. 
He  was  a  ready  and  strong  singer  and  leader,  and  besides  his 
excellent  pulpit  gifts  was  a  delightful  platform  speaker,  as  he 
will  soon  show  those  who  have  not  yet  heard  him.  When  he 
went  away  he  took  our  hearts  with  him  and  has  kept  them 
ever  since. 

Two  years  and  a  half  of  severe  discipline  followed,  but 
the  unity  and  restored  good  judgment  of  the  church  was  con- 
spicuously shown  in  the  invitation  soon,  and,  so  far  as  I 
remember,  unanimously  extended  to  Rev.  T.  T.  Munger, 
then  in  California,  to  minister  to  the  church  for  one  year. 
He  accepted  our  invitation,  and  that  year  of  preaching  has 
been,  to  some  of  us  at  least,  a  delightful  memory  and  inspira- 
tion ever  since. 

Then  came  Rev.  Richard  Meredith,  leaving  the  Asylum 
Street  M.  E.  Church  and  the  Methodist  denomination  for 
ours.  He  was  a  thoughtful,  able,  popular  preacher,  a  Bible 
student  and  Bible  lover,  and  he  entered  into  our  parish  work 
and  Sunday  school  and  Normal  Class  plans  with  a  hearty 
helpfulness  which  endeared  him  to  us  all.  My  removal  with 
family  from  East  Hartford  to  New  Britain  occurred  during 
his  pastorate. 


26 

My  father's  family  had  removed  to  East  Hartford  in  No- 
vember, 1847,  to  the  Major  Pitkin  place,  which  was  bought  of 
Mr.  Ashbel  Olmsted,  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  church,  society 
and  town.  His  children  are  still  with  you ;  you  cannot  give  them 
up,  they  cannot  give  you  up.  His  grandson  I  salute  as  my 
honored  successor,  I  trust  in  a  rapidly  ascending  scale  of 
merit,  in  the  superintendency  of  this  Sunday  school. 

The  location  and  associations  of  our  new  home  helped  at 
once  to  bring  us  into  the  midst  of  things.  Dr.  Spring  was  a 
very  near  neighbor  and  almost  a  daily  caller  who  brought 
gifts  which  surprised  us  as  much  by  their  great  liberality  as 
by  their  frequency. 

Major  Pitkin  and  East  Hartford  history  were  inseparable 
and  every  body  talked  of  it.  The  General  Pitkin  place  was 
next  south  of  us  and  almost  equally  distinguished.  The 
stately  residence  with  its  wonderful  carvings  in  closets  and 
over  the  front  door,  of  humble  Aunt  Abby  Williams,  was 
just  across  the  street.  The  rest  of  us  thought  she  was  a  saint 
almost  made  perfect,  but  under  the  spell  of  a  stern  theology 
she  classed  herself  with  the  vilest  of  the  vile,  and  hardly  ever 
had  any  hope  of  salvation.  She  was  the  aged  and  quaint 
daughter  of  Parson  Williams  of  a  long  past  generation,  and 
many  an  evening  I  used  to  sit  by  her  small,  cracked,  smoky, 
and  generally  detestable  old  stove,  which  she  regarded  as  an 
undeserved  luxury,  and  read  to  her  or  enjoyed  her  interest- 
ing conversation,  always  kind  and  charitable  to  everyone  but 
herself. 

In  this  same  house  lived  Deacon  Hayden,  tallest  and 
worthiest  of  men,  with  his  shortest  and  most  Christian  of 
wives,  often  doing  his  chores  at  night  after  his  return  from 
an  evening  prayer  meeting  that  he  had  attended  in  some  dis- 
tant part  of  the  town,  and  to  which  he  had  carried,  very 
likely,  with  his  unsanctified  old  white  horse,  a  wagon  load  or 
a  sleigh  load  of  people. 

Col.  Solomon  Olmsted,  a  wise  and  wealthy  man  of 
affairs,  was  then  a  leader  in  church,  town  and  state  and  was 
prominent  in  every  good  word  and  work.  I  remember  him 
as  a  temperance  reformer,  early  bringing  John  B.  Gough 
to  East  Hartford  to  lecture  almost  annually,  and  I  have  no 


MEMORIAL    WINDOW    IN    THE 

CHAPEL    TO    MAJOR    SAMUEL    PITKIN, 

FIRST    SUPERINTENDENT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 


27 

doubt  that  the  consistent,  steadfast  attitude  of  this  church  on 
this  question  for  more  than  a  generation,  even  requiring  the 
expression  of  a  total  abstinence  purpose  as  a  condition  of 
church  membership,  was  not  a  little  due  to  those  forceful  and 
eloquent  presentations  of  the  subject  by  John  B.  Gough. 
Certainly  I  have  always  felt  myself  greatly  indebted,  for 
the  privilege  of  hearing  those  wonderful  lectures,  to  the  wise 
enterprise  and  generosity  of  Deacon  Solomon  Olmsted.  Mr. 
Gough  was  often,  perhaps  always  entertained  by  Deacon  J.  A. 
Ayres,  who  was  one  of  Col.  Olmsted's  most  valuable  co-work- 
ers. Deacon  Ayres,  with  others,  canvassed  the  town,  district 
by  district,  again  and  again,  in  a  campaign  of  lectures  and 
pledge  signing.  He  was  then  and  for  many  years  thereafter 
a  teacher  at  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf.  He  was  a 
broad  man  of  active  brain,  genial,  scholarly,  public  spirited, 
liberal,  graceful.  A  most  delightful  man  to  meet,  and  in- 
fluential in  all  affairs.  He  was  my  longest  and  best  remem- 
bered East  Hartford  Sunday  school  teacher. 

Afterwards  we  came  to  have  a  quartet  of  wealthy,  gen- 
erous, reliable  men  whose  harmonious  co-work  made  financial 
music,  or  at  any  rate  did  very  much  to  insure  financial  success 
to  this  church  for  many  years:  Francis  Hanme'r,  Charles 
Forbes,  Reuben  Chapman,  and  Deacon  Horace  Williams. 
Happy  is  the  church  that  has  a  quartet  of  such  a  character 
and  calibre. 

To  Albert  Raymond  I  am  under  many  personal  obliga- 
tions. He  lived  for  men  and  deserves  pages  of  recognition, 
but  needs  none  for  the  bell  sounds  his  praise  every  time  the 
clock  strikes,  and  the  Raymond  Library  Building  and  its  con- 
tents are  his  enduring  memorial.  But  Esther  B.  Raymond 
was  his  worthy  partner  in  winning  his  fortune  and  equally 
interested  with  him  that  every  dollar  of  it  should  go  for  the 
world's  betterment  and  I  suppose  was  the  largest  single  donor 
this  church  ever  had.  Let  her  works  praise  her  in  the  gates. 

My  first  East  Hartford  Sunday  school  superintendent  was 
Mr.  M.  L.  Rogers,  principal  of  East  Hartford  Academy.  A 
man  of  distinguished  appearance  and  of  good  ability.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Deacon  J.  Hubbard  Wells  of  eminent  piety 
and  soundness  of  theology,  and  who  tried  hard  to  secure  Bible 


28 

study  and  indoctrination.  Deacon  Ayres  was  his  successor 
and  he  soon  began  and  long  continued  a  weekly  teachers' 
meeting  at  his  own  house  which  was  always  interesting  and 
well  attended  and  which  had  much  added  interest  to  me  on 
account  of  a  certain  rosy  face  and  pair  of  black  eyes  that 
were  always  present  and  that  afterwards,  for  one  blessed 
eighteen  months,  looked  at  me  from  the  opposite  side  of  my 
own  table. 

After  Deacon  Ayers  as  superintendent,  came  Deacon 
Horace  Williams,  a  genuine  lover  of  children  and  of  Sunday- 
schools  and  of  Sunday  school  machinery ;  and  the  era  of  Sun- 
day School  Concerts  with  speakers  from  Hartford  and  annual 
Picnics  and  Christmas  festivals,  of  weekly  contributions  and 
of  special  Sunday  School  songs  came  in,  all  belonging  I 
judge,  in  some  degree,  to  the  things  that  should  remain.  Mrs. 
Williams,  too,  became  a  large  factor  in  all  these  things  and 
endeared  herself  to  all  our  hearts. 

Miss  Delia  Pitkin,  afterwards  Mrs.  George  Williams,  and 
Miss  Ellen  Hollister,  became  associated  as  primary  class  teach- 
ers, (infant  class  we  then  called  it),  and  a  lovelier  pair  with 
more  natural  aptitude  for  interesting  little  children  and  in- 
clining their  feet  to  virtue's  ways  it  were  hard  to  find.  Under 
such  magnetic  leadership  the  total  membership  of  the  infant 
class  was  often  over  one  hundred. 

The  time  came  when  Mrs.  Williams's  health  could  not 
bear  the  winter  climate  of  Connecticut,  and  as  Deacon  Wil- 
liams was  too  good  a  husband  to  allow  her  to  go  alone,  and  as 
her  absences  became  quite  prolonged,  the  name  of  John  B. 
Smith  was  added  to  the  honorable  roll  of  your  Sunday  school 
superintendents  and  there  remained,  with  one  short  interim, 
for  fifteen  years  or  until  his  removal  with  his  family  to  New 
Britain.  As  for  me  this  was  a  period  full  of  faults,  full  of 
weaknesses,  full  of  failures.  Still,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  both 
for  my  associates  and  for  myself  it  was  very  largely  also  a 
time  of  humble  and  earnest  endeavor  to  teach  the  Word  and 
establish  minds  in  the  knowledge  and  the  love  of  it.  At  one 
time  the  school  was  able  to  give  the  Titles  and  Golden  Texts 
of  all  the  lessons  for  three  years,  and  to  bear  a  very  thorough 
further  examination  on  the  same  period.  At  the  end  of  one 


29 

year,  I  remember,  when  we  had  a  Sunday  school  concert  and 
review  of  the  year,  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull  was  with  us,  and 
we  challenged  him  to  ask  any  question  answered  in  the  text  of 
the  lessons  for  the  year  which  the  school  could  not  answer  and 
with  great  promptness  and  unanimity,  and  I  remember  I 
made  the  offer  without  a  tremor.  We  all  knew  the  school 
could  stand  the  test  and  very  much  harder  ones,  and  that  the 
more  questions  he  asked  the  better  he  and  we  should  enjoy  it. 

We  had  our  "Song  and  Study  Band"  in  preparation  for 
this  annual  review,  and  no  spelling  match  ever  excited  keener 
interest  than  when  at  its  meetings  we  chose  sides  for  answers, 
each  side  being  questioned  alternately  by  the  leader  or  ques- 
tioning each  other.  And  it  was  not  merely  the  letter  but  the 
spirit,  the  meaning  and  the  application  to  life  that  were  a  part 
of  the  study  and  drill.  And  we  have  reason  to  believe  that 
our  review  work  called  national  attention,  through  Mr.  Trum- 
bull and  others,  to  the  importance  of  reviews  and  was  influ- 
ential in  making  them  a  part  of  the  International  Lesson 
system. 

The  use  of  maps  and  charts  and  blackboards  was  then  in- 
troduced into  our  school  and  a  Review  Chart  that  we  began 
is  still  published  by  the  American  Sunday  School  Union. 

By  the  organization  of  our  school  as  a  Missionary  Society, 
and  each  class  as  an  auxiliary  with  its  teacher  for  its  Presi- 
dent, we  several-folded  our  missionary  contributions  and 
habitually  raised  with  great  ease  and  pleasure  several  hundred 
dollars  per  year. 

For  years  our  aggregate  membership  was  in  excess  of 
four  hundred. 

We  also  organized  a  Sunday  School  Temperance  Society 
on  the  same  lines  as  the  Missionary  Society  and  held  occasional 
meetings  for  reports,  songs,  addresses,  etc. ;  and  for  many 
years  nearly  every  member,  including  both  teachers  and  schol- 
ars, was  a  pledged  total  abstainer.  And  I  want  to  bear  testi- 
mony as  a  member  of  the  Standing  Committee  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  and  so  present  almost  uniformly  at  the  examin- 
ation of  candidates,  and  a  very  greatly  interested  observer, 
that  I  have  no  evidence  that  our  temperance  attitude  kept  one 
single  person  out  of  either  church  or  Sunday  school  or  made 


30 

even  a  ripple  of  friction,  while  it  certainly  greatly  added  to  the 
value  of  both  to  many.  It  does  not  hurt  a  church  to  stand  for 
something.  It  does  hurt  a  church  not  to. 

We  had  at  one  time  and  kept  it  up  for  several  years,  more 
or  less  frequently,  a  Sunday  School  Prayer  meeting,  holding 
it  in  various  parts  of  the  town,  at  which  meetings  we  believe 
many  Christians  were  quickened  and  many  souls  were  born 
into  the  kingdom. 

Circumstances  and  I  believe  the  Holy  Spirit,  once  induced 
the  teachers  of  this  Sunday  school  looking  into  each  other's 
faces  to  say  one  to  another  "Ourselves  your  servants  for 
Jesus'  sake,"  and  with  this  for  their  motto,  met  at  each  other's 
houses  for  years  for  a  two  hours'  session  with  prayer  and  song, 
Normal  Class  and  social  cheer,  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  the 
motto,  accepting  and  faithfully  fulfilling  whatever  assign- 
ments were  given  them,  and  I  have  often  thought  that  there  are 
rarely  banded  together  a  more  capable  or  more  devoted  corps 
of  teachers  than  that  with  whom  it  was  my  pleasure  here  to 
be  associated  and  from  whom  I  sorrowfully  parted  when  I 
left  the  school.  A  banner  given  us  by  the  Hillstown  School 
was  each  year  put  into  the  keeping  of  the  class  that  stood  the 
highest  according  to  our  system  of  marking  which  included 
Attendance,  Prepared  lessons,  Written  Exercises  and  Contri- 
butions. For  several  years  the  class  of  young  men  taught  by 
Miss  Hattie  Kilbourne  kept  the  banner.  At  the  semi-centen- 
nial the  class  had  six  members  including  the  teacher,  and  its 
record  was  only  two  failures  in  Prepared  lessons  during  the 
year  and  fifty-one  written  exercises  to  each  member,  also  in- 
cluding the  teacher.  I  think  for,  perhaps,  five  years  the 
record  did  not  go  much  lower.  The  names  at  the  semi-cen- 
tennial were  Howard  Ensign,  George  King,  Joseph  King, 
Frank  Roberts  and  Horace  Williams.  This  class  has  furn- 
ished three  Sunday  School  superintendents  in  three  churches. 

I  believe  most  of  the  class,  with  the  teacher,  is  present  and 
perhaps  will  favor  us  by  standing*.  The  Lord  bless  them  now 
and  evermore  and  every  member  of  the  old  Sunday  school. 
In  the  semi-centennial  year  forty-two  pupils  were  on  the  Roll 

*The  class  were  all  actually  present  and  rose  with  their  teacher  in  response 
to  this  request 


31 

of  Honor  which  meant  either  attendance  every'  Sunday  ex- 
cept three,  or  a  prepared  lesson  every  Sunday,  and  so  far  as 
I  know  Albert  Forbes,  who  should  be  named  Albert  the  Faith- 
ful, holds  the  National  Sunday  School  Record  by  unbroken 
attendance  for  seven  years. 

Miss  Lucia  Spring  was  for  many  years  my  Lady  Assist- 
ant Superintendent,  and  truly  a  lady  she  was,  thoughtful,  pa- 
tient, tactful,  wise  in  counsel,  efficient  in  working.  •  Mrs. 
Ralph  Spencer,  a  Mother  in  Israel,  succeeded  her,  and  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  she  did  not  one  whit  fall  below  the  high 
standard  of  her  predecessor.  She  was  an  ideal  Lady  Assist- 
ant Superintendent. 

Mr.  William  Stanley  was  for  many  years  Assistant  male 
superintendent.  He  ordinarily  excused  himself  from  Sunday 
school  attendance  after  I  became  superintendent,  but  what  he 
did  he  always  did  well.  He  had  a  genius  for  good  sense  and 
was  wise  and  sagacious  in  all  public  affairs  of  the  town,  state 
and  nation.  Little  traveled  yet  of  broad  and  liberal  views, 
and  cosmopolitan  in  his  knowledge  and  tastes  and  interests, 
he  was  a  remarkable  man  and  a  delightful  associate. 

Mrs.  Ashbel  Olmsted,  the  beautiful  and  good ;  intelligent, 
humble,  loving,  spiritual,  of  whom  the  rest  of  us  were  not 
worthy,  but  she  thought  we  were,  and  we  all  loved  her.  She 
appreciated  every  good  thing  in  us,  and  to  our  faults  was  at 
least  a  little  blind,  and  that  pleased  us,  and  does  still.  High 
among  the  teachers,  supporters,  saints  of  the  East  Hartford 
Sunday  school  stands  the  name  of  Mrs.  Ashbel  Olmsted,  and 
heaven  is  dearer  because  her  mansion  is  there. 

Deacon  George  H.  Goodwin,  the  Just,  the  Soldier,  long 
our  librarian,  was  a  man  of  high  standards  and  genuine  in- 
tegrity, of  literary  culture,  of  clear  thought  and  speech  and 
of  faithful  work.  He  did  much  to  select  and  shape  the  read- 
ing of  more  than  a  generation,  and  we  owe  him  a  great  debt. 
He  was  a  democratic  aristocrat.  He  was  my  friend ;  the  friend 
of  everybody. 

Mr.  Holmes,  I  know,  would  hardly  forgive  me,  even  if  I 
could  myself,  if  I  did  not  speak  of  Brother  E.  A.  Parker,  a 
man,  a  Christian,  a  Baptist.  He  was  my  neighbor  first  on  one 
side  then  on  the  other,  and  equally  good  on  both  sides,  always 


32 

ready  with  most  helpful  help  to  the  neighbor,  church,  Sun- 
day school,  prayer  meeting  that  needed  him  and  where  God 
had  cast  his  lot. 

Timothy  Deming,  the  materialistic  spiritualist,  I  cannot 
omit,  in  at  the  organization  of  our  Sunday  school,  saluted  at 
our  semi-centennial  as  a  veteran  of  1819,  carrying  in  his  hoary 
head  a  crown  of  glory,  with  face  aglow  in  our  prayer-meet- 
ings with  a  joy  like  Mary's,  when  she  had  seen  the  Lord  and 
was  telling  the  resurrection  news  to  the  only  half  believing 
disciples,  and  radiant  also  with  the  assurance  of  his  speedy 
second  coming. 

Children,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  all  this  talk,  to  you  I  fear 
tiresome ;  but  you  have  been  in  my  mind  every  moment  since 
I  began.  This  church  and  Sunday  school  and  their  long  line 
of  pastors  and  grand  men  and  women  are  all  for  you.  This 
Bible  with  the  Father  and  the  Saviour  whom  it  reveals  is  all 
for  you.  It  is  yours.  Possess  yourselves  of  it,  know  it,  love 
it,  live  it.  To  know  it  and  to  love  it  is  to  live.  Everything 
else  is  death.  Touch  poison  ivy  with  the  tip  of  your  finger 
and  the  trouble  will  come  out  all  over.  If  a  thing  is  right  do 
it,  if  wrong  let  it  alone.  Let  it  alone.  God's  way  is  best. 
Come  here  to  learn  it  from  His  Word.  Look  up  every  day 
and  ask  it  in  prayer.  Walk  in  the  light  given,  and  the  light 

shall  daily  grow  and  guide  you  till  you  see  and  know  and 
love  the  Lord. 

Fellow  Teachers — A  few  months  ago,  visiting  our  old 
friend,  dear  friend,  Edward  Olmsted,  at  his  office  in  the  2;th 
story  of  Park  Row  Building,  New  York,  he  took  me  up  sev- 
eral stairways  higher  to  the  lookout  on  the  tower  and  bade 
me  look  down.  O  how  small,  getting  up  even  that  little  way, 
made  everything  earthy  look!  The  men 'and  women  seemed 
only  flies  on  the  sidewalk,  pigmies,  rushing  about  ridiculously. 
So  much  does  what  we  see  depend  on  our  point  of  view.  The 
right  point  of  view  for  a  Sunday  school  teacher  would  have 
dwarfed  that  skyscraper  and  much  that  the  men  were  pursu- 
ing, and  have  exalted  the  men  till  they  seemed  only  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels.  Let  us  all  try  to  get  and  keep  the 
right  point  of  view,  Mr.  Moody's  view,  Paul's  view,  Jesus 
Christ's  view. 


33 

Teachers,  our  work  is  to  teach  this  word,  holding  it  up,  a 
light  on  the  pathway  of  God's  children,  that  they  may  see  their 
way  home.  This  is  the  Mission  of  the  Sunday  School.  This 
is  our  mission.  This  message  that  we  bring  is  God's  panacea 
for  all  the  ills  of  our  sin  sick  world.  Working  together  with 
Him,  be  it  ours,  so  to  bring  it,  as  to  save. 


ADDRESS    BY 
Rev.  THEODORE   J.  HOLMES. 

Some  of  us  were  present  at  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary 
of  this  Sunday  school,  a  generation  ago,  and  we  remember 
what  a  grand  celebration  we  had,  what  an  inspiration  it  was  in 
all  our  work.  To-day  we  look  back  a  little  farther,  to  a 
time  before  Sunday  schools  were  invented,  and  the  retrospect 
ought  to  do  us  good. 

The  Psalmist  prayed:  "So  teach  us  to  number  our  days 
that  we  may  get  us  a  heart  of  wisdom." 

That  is  a  fitting  prayer  for  our  anniversary  to-day. 

Recognizing  gratefully  the  debt  we  owe  this  institution  for 
all  its  beneficent  service,  in  manifest  ways,  we  may  ask  fairly 
whether  its  usefulness  may  not  be  increased  in  the  days  to 
come.  Without  such  inquiry,  numbering  our  days  would  not 
give  us  the  heart  of  wisdom. 

Sometimes  any  one  who  reflects  at  all  on  the  existing  order 
of  things  and  suggests  improvements  is  called  an  old  fogy ;  but 
that  is  not  necessarily  a  disreputable  term.  According  to  the 
dictionary,  it  comes  from  a  word  meaning  a  protector ;  it  was 
applied  to  the  old  soldiers  of  the  royal  guard.  We  old  people 
must  aim  to  be  broad  and  tolerant,  but  also  to  be  fogies  in  the 
original  sense,  protectors,  guards,  good  soldiers  for  the  truth. 

The  only  suggestion  I  would  make  regarding  the  Sunday 
school  is  that  it  has  been  regarded,  to  a  great  extent,  the  exclu- 
sive means  of  religious  training ;  not  of  course  in  theory  but  in 
practical  effect. 


34 

Two  vital  factors  have  been  neglected. 

First,  the  church.  The  tendency  has  been  to  leave  the 
whole  business  of  educating  a  child  in  spiritual  things  to  the 
Sunday  teacher.  Often  the  school  is  an  outside  affair  for 
which  the  general  congregation  has  no  concern.  Evidently 
the  church  should  be  in  closest  touch  with  its  children,  giving 
them  its  warmest  sympathy,  exercising  for  them  the  most  long- 
suffering  patience,  making  room  for  them  in  all  its  life,  provid- 
ing for  them,  at  every  cost,  what  will  contribute  to  their 
enjoyment  and  their  good.  Professor  Drummond,  when  last 
in  this  country,  describing  the  boys'  brigade  movement  in 
England,  said  that  if  people  objected  that  drilling  at  the  meet- 
ing house  spoiled  the  carpets,  he  replied:  "One  yard  of  boy 
is  worth  100  yards  of  carpet.  "  There  is  no  effort  too  great, 
no  sacrifice  too  exacting,  for  a  church  to  make  in  holding  the 
children. 

Then,  the  pastor's  best  opportunity  is  just  here.  If  I  had 
the  privilege  of  addressing  a  company  of  theological  students, 
I  would  say  this  to  them,  with  all  my  might:  Make  it  a  chief 
function  of  your  ministry  to  save  the  boys  and  girls,  save  them 
now,  while  they're  young.  Get  acquainted  with  them  from 
their  earliest  life.  Keep  acquainted  with  them.  Study  them, 
one  by  one,  in  their  character,  environment,  education.  Edu- 
cate them  personally  yourself.  Never  leave  it  to  the  Sunday 
school  or  the  Endeavor  society,  senior  or  junior,  or  to  any 
other  organization.  Remember  that  your  responsibility  for 
bringing  them  into  the  Lord's  Kingdom  cannot  possibly  be 
delegated  to  anybody  else.  Take  time  for  this  momentous 
work ;  though  your  sermons  are  not  so  elaborate,  though  people 
grumble  because  you  do  not  visit  them  more,  the  people,  too, 
it  is  probable,  whom  you  visit  the  oftenest.  It  will  tax  your 
best  strength  of  body  and  soul ;  but  never  mind,  nothing  else 
pays  so  abundantly  in  building  the  church  of  the  living  God. 
And  any  wise  congregation  will  not  only  permit  their  pastor  to 
spend  himself  in  such  work,  they  will  demand  it  as  the  proof 
of  his  ministry.  The  Roman  Catholics  set  us  an  example  in 
this  matter,  as  in  some  others.  They  have  their  Sunday  schools 
and  other  kindred  agencies,  but  their  church  recognizes  its  own 
responsibility,  through  the  priest  and  otherwise,  to  bring  the 


35 

young,  all  of  them,  steadily,  certainly,  into  their  fold.  How 
can  our  Protestant  churches  secure  larger  accessions,  not 
"marking  time,"  as  one  statistical  secretary  put  it,  but  mov- 
ing forward  like  the  mighty  army  of  which  we  sing?  The 
best  answer  is,  bring  in  the  children.  They  need  the  church 
and  the  church  needs  them.  No  other  growth  could  be  so 
healthy  and  so  sure. 

The  other  factor  neglected  is,  the  home.  In  multitudes 
of  Christian  families,  fathers  and  mothers  seem  to  have  no 
definite  part  in  the  Christian  nurture  of  their  children,  but 
hand  it  all  over  to  the  Sunday  school.  We  need  to  get  back 
to  the  divine  law  prescribed  for  the  ancient  Jews:  "Therefore 
shall  ye  lay  up  these  my  words  in  your  heart  and  in  your 
soul  and  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  your  hand  that  they  may 
be  as  frontlets  between  your  eyes.  And  ye  shall  teach  them 
to  your  children,  speaking  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine 
house  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  when  thou  liest 
down  and  when  thou  risest  up.  And  thou  shalt  write  them 
upon  the  doorposts  of  thine  house  and  upon  thy  gates." 

A  missionary  among  the  Nestorians  said  once  in  the  Hart- 
ford ministers'  meeting,  a  native  Christian  in  that  country 
being  asked  by  a  traveler  how  Christianity  could  survive  and 
flourish  in  that  mountainous  region  where  people  were  so 
scarce,  replied :  We  say  to  our  children,  as  the  old  Jews  said 
to  theirs:  You  are  not  Hittites  and  Hivites  and  Jebusites  or 
any  such  people,  you  are  Israelites;  you  belong  to  God  and 
must  in  due  time  take  your  place  in  his  family;  so,  they  come 
along  into  the  church,  regularly,  as  a  matter  of  course."  Is 
there  any  other  way  so  good  for  perpetuating  the  Kingdom 
of  God?  These  suggestions  are  only  those  which  would  be 
approved  by  the  best  Sunday  school  workers.  Nobody  urges 
more  earnestly  than  .they  the  duty  and  of  the  church  and  the 
home.  This  is  a  day  certainly  not  to  disparage,  but  to  mag- 
nify Sunday  school  work,  a  day  for  us  all  to  enlist  in  it  anew. 
We  can  help  to  increase  its  membership. 

Ralph  Welles,  a  stirring,  effective  worker,  when  we  old 
folks  were  young,  said  one  Sunday  to  his  school:  "To-night 
we  are  going  to  have  here  a  rare  meeting — and  I  want  you  to 
bring  the  whole  neighborhood."  In  the  evening  he  was  met 


36 

at  the  door  by  a  man,  led  in  by  a  boy,  who  said,  "Mr.  Welles, 
I  could  not  bring-  the  whole  neighborhood,  so  I  just  brought 
father. "  If  we  would  all  adopt  that  philosophy,  bring  father, 
bring  just  one,  our  year  book  would  soon  show  better  looking 
statistics. 

We  can  help  to  raise  the  standard  of  Bible  study. 
A  serious  consideration  for  such  endeavor  is  the  fact  that  the 
state  no  longer  provides  religious  education.  One  of  my 
pleasantest  memories  of  Hartford  is  the  school  building  on 
Asylum  Hill, with  its  inscription  across  the  front:  "  All  thy 
children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord."  Have  those  words 
ever  been  chiseled  out  yet?  I  hope  not.  They  may  be  some 
day,  if  they  come  to  be  regarded  an  infringement  upon  relig- 
ious liberty.  But  never  mind,  we'll  write  it  more  conspicu- 
ously, more  indelibly  across  our  churches ;  and  we  may  all 
have  a  hand  in  keeping  it  there. 

But  especially,  we  can  help  the  Sunday  school  by  living 
out  its  teaching. 

Many  of  you  here  I  remember  with  peculiar  affection. 
You  were  my  boys  and  girls,  forty  years  ago.  I  recollect 
definitely  when  and  where  and  how  you  started  in  the  Chris- 
tian life.  I  feel  like  expressing  to-day  a  desire  which  has  often 
been  in  my  heart,  since  I  was  your  pastor,  to  know  how  you 
have  been  developing  all  these  years :  Are  you  growing  stead- 
ily in  the  things  that  are  true  and  good  ?  What  are  you 
spending  yourself  for,  day  by  day  ?  What  is  your  aim, 
your  outlook?  That  was  a  true  word  spoken  by  ex-Governor 
Russell  of  Massachusetts:  "Never  forget  the  everlasting 
difference  between  making  a  living  and  making  a  life. "  I  trust 
you  are,  every  one,  remembering  that  distinction.  Your 
father  or  your  grandfather  was  a  pillar  in  this  church.  Are 
you? 

For  all  of  you  young  people  this  anniversary  ought  to 
mean  a  fresh  start.  We  want,  all  of  us,  young  and  old,  to 
co-operate  in  making  this  twentieth  century  the  grandest  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  The  weakest  of  us  can  wield  a 
power  that  will  tell. 

This  Memorial  Sunday  reminds  me  of  a  reception  that 
was  given  once  in  Hartford  by  the  cavalry  boys  to  General 


37 

Sheridan,  their  old  leader,  whom  they  had  learned  to  trust 
and  love.  As  some  one  said  of  him:  "A  man  of  few  inches, 
but  every  inch  a  man."  He  seemed  very  much  delighted  as 
one  and  another  of  those  who  had  served  under  him  came 
up  to  be  introduced.  There  were  officers  of  every  grade  who 
had  been  his  comrades  in  the  great  fight.  There  was  a  host 
of  privates  and  non-commissioned  officers,  among  whom  there 
came  along  a  trooper  who  said:  "  General,  I  was  one  of  your 
orderlies  on  the  ride  from  Winchester  to  Cedar  Creek!  "  Then 
you  should  have  seen  "  Little  Phil."  How  his  face  did  shine : 
he  looked  as  though  he  wanted  to  take  the  boy  in  his  arms  as 
he  recalled  their  ride  together  that  day  which  witnessed  one 
of  the  miracles  of  history.  It  was  very  interesting  to  observe 
that  he  gave  the  same  cordial  recognition  to  the  corporal  as 
to  any  officer  in  his  command. 

As  we  Christian  people  think  over  our  good  fight  of  faith, 
\ve  like  to  remember  the  words  of  our  leader,  the  Captain  of 
our  Salvation:  "He  that  is  faithful  in  a  very  little,  is  faith- 
ful also  in  much;"  to  know  that  at  the  end,  to  those  who  have 
been  true  to  him,  in  high  station  or  in  the  ranks,  he  will  say, 
"Well  done!"  At  this  time  which  brings  to  mind  the  men 
who  by  their  valor  and  sacrifice  saved  our  nation,  let  us  strive 
to  emulate  their  spirit  in  our  work  to  save  the  world.  As  we 
remember  on  this  anniversary,  those  who  were  once  with  us 
in  our  holy  war,  those  in  this  church  and  the  good  workers 
everywhere,  in  all  the  years,  from  Robert  Raikes  down,  let 
us  try  to  be  their  worthy  successors. 

' '  A  noble  army,  men  and  boys, 

The  matron  and  the  maid, 

Around  the  Savior's  throne  rejoice. 

In  robes  of  light  arrayed ; 

They  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven, 

Through  peril,  toil  and  pain  ; 

O  God,  to  us  may  grace  be  given, 

To  follow  in  their  train." 


38 


HISTORY 

By    HARRY   DWIGHT   OLMSTED. 


The  following  history  of  the  Church  was  prepared  for  the  Anniversary,  and  read 
by  Mr.  Olmsted  at  the  Monday  evening  session.  Mr.  Olmsted  has  been  actively  iden- 
tified with  the  Church  since  1878.  He  is  a  descendant  of  Captain  Nicholas  Olmsted, 
Timothy  Stanley,  and  Thomas  Burnham,  three  of  the  first  settlers  of  East  Hartford, 
and  of  Deacon  Joseph  Olmsted,  one  of  the  founders  of  this  Church. 


Those  who  have  attempted  the  collection  and  preparation 
of  a  paper  of  this  kind,  with  the  meager  and  tantalizingly 
elusive  data  which  those  early  and  trying  days  afford,  will 
appreciate  the  difficulties  of  such  a  task,  and  no  one  else  can. 
This  church  is,  however,  much  better  off  for  records,  such  as 
they  are,  than  many  others  about  here.  The  records  of  the 
ecclesiastical  society  are  continuous  from  Dec.  31,  1699  to 
its  dissolution  in  1895,  a  period  of  196  years.  While  the  church 
records  beginning  with  the  account  of  the  call  and  settlement 
of  Rev.  Eliphalet  Williams  in  1748,  written  in  his  own  hand- 
writing as  are  all  the  subsequent  church  records  during  his 
pastorate,  are  continuous  to  the  present  time.  But  for  many 
years  they  consist,  aside  from  baptism  and  membership  lists, 
of  infrequent  entries  and  not  much  really  available  material. 
They  are  more  complete  than  those  of  either  of  the  older 
churches  in  Hartford,  which  is  cause  for  gratitude. 

When  the  company  under  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  settled 
at  Cambridge,  they  complained  that  the  settlements  around 
Boston  were  being  located  too  close  together.  They  did  not 
have  room  enough,  and  especially  lacked  meadow  land.  To 
secure  the  latter,  together  with  a  more  democratic  form  of 
government,  the  party  took  the  long  and  tedious  journey  on 


39 

foot  through  the  unbroken  wilderness,  reaching-  Hartford  in 
the  summer  of  1636.  The  spacious  and  beautiful  meadows, 
the  fertile  soil,  the  "Great  River,"  (the  main  highway  of  the 
olden  time)  gave  them  their  welcome  to  settle.  It  was  not 
long  before  they  found  that  the  east  side  of  the  river  pos- 
sessed great  attractions  which  led  them  to  establish  homes  on 
this  side. 

Few  privileges  of  these  exiles  for  conscience's  sake 
were  more  highly  prized  by  them  than  that  of  public  worship, 
and  for  half  a  century  they  regularly  worshiped  in  the  meet- 
ing houses  across  the  great  river.  Let  us  for  a  moment 
picture  them  on  a  bright  June  morning,  as  they  take  their 
way  down  through  the  fair  meadows  in  all  their  summer 
glory,  the  music  of  the  birds  accompanying  them.  All 
nature  speaks  of  the  Creator  and  all  the  people  are  on  their 
way  to  acknowledge  Him.  They  are  plainly  dressed,  indeed 
the  law  restricted  their  apparel  and  they  are  on  solemn 
business  bent.  They  come  to  the  ferry  place  and  crossing 
the  river  go  up  to  the  meeting  house  which  stood  somewhere 
near  the  post  office  building,  where  they  listen  to  the  preach- 
ing of  Hooker,  or  Stone,  or  Whiting  who  led  out  the  south 
church  to  which  he  ministered  many  years,  or  Haynes,  or 
Foster,  all  of  whom  had  finished  their  work  before  this  church 
was  formed.  The  morning  service  began  at  nine  o'clock. 
After  meeting  came  the  intermission  which  took  the  place  of 
the  newspaper.  All  the  affairs  of  the  day,  its  gossip  and 
news,  were  interchanged,  and  the  social  greetings  were 
passed.  This  was,  no  doubt,  a  great  diversion  in  their  work-a- 
day  lives,  and  did  much  to  make  the  wilderness  life  tolerable. 
At  2  o'clock  they  assembled  for  another  long  service,  and 
toward  night  returned  to  their  homes,  where,  as  soon  as  the 
sun  had  set,  the  holy  day  was  ended,  and  the  thread  of  their 
life  was  taken  up  where  the  previous  sunset  had  arrested  it. 

But  it  was  not  always  summer,  and  the  days  were  many 
when  to  cross  the  ferry  was  too  difficult  or  dangerous  to  be 
thought  of,  and  in  May  1694,  when  Rev.  Timothy  Wood- 
bridge  was  pastor  of  the  Center  Church  the  people  of  the  east 
side  of  the  river  petitioned  the  General  Court  for  the  "liberty 
of  a  minister"  here,  setting  forth  the  trouble  and  peril  of  the 


40 

crossing  to  worship.  Their  request  was  referred  to  the  two 
churches  for  action.  They  reported  to  the  next  Court, 
October,  1694,  that  they  had  duly  considered  their  request, 
and  after  declaring-  they  prize  their  good  company  and  can- 
not support  their  ministry  well,  if  they  withdraw;  "yet  if 
the  General  Court  see  cause  to  overrule  in  this  case  we  must 
submit."  They,  however,  shrewdly  laid  conditions  by  which 
they  should  retain  much  of  the  revenues  from  east  side 
people  and  property  for  themselves.  The  Court  accepted 
their  report  and  established  the  conditions,  granting  the 
liberty  to  settle  an  orthodox  minister.  The  project  of  settl- 
ing a  minister  here  was  made  difficult  by  the  requirements 
for  the  support  of  the  older  societies  in  addition  to  their  own 
work,  and  it  is  not  until  Dec.  29,  1699  that  we  find  any  record 
of  their  having  accomplished  anything,  although  much  must 
evidently  have  been  done  previously,  in  the  way  of  organiza- 
tion at  any  rate.  At  that  time,  Wm.  Pitkin,  Deacon  Joseph 
Olmsted  and  "  Leift. "  Hills  were  chosen  a  committee  "to  act 
about  ye  meeting  house,  to  do  what  they  shall  think  needful  1 
in  ordering  ye  same  as  they  think  best."  A  tax  of  3  pence 
in  the  pound  was  laid  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  society 
to  be  expended  upon  the  meeting  house,  ' '  to  pay  one  penny  of  it 
in  corn  and  ye  rest  in  work,  if  ye  persons  rated  will  take  their 
opportunity,  but  if  they  don't  then  to  pay  ye  whole  in 
graine."  Another  rate  of  3  half  pence  in  the  pound  was  laid 
to  satisfy  Rev.  Mr.  John  Reed  for  his  pains  in  the  ministry 
here.  These  ecclesiastical  society  revenues  were  derived 
from  the  outset  by  taxation  of  this  sort,  the  custom  con- 
tinuing- until  1824. 

In  May,  1701,  the  General  Court  granted  the  people  of  the 
east  side  permission  to  embody  themselves  in  church  estate. 
The  exact  date  of  their  organization,  as  the  Third  Church  in 
Hartford,  cannot  be  definitely  known,  but  the  earliest  record 
of  dismission  from  the  older  churches  to  this  one,  is  May  13, 
1702,  and  the  General  Court,  convened  May  14,  recognized  the 
new  church  and  ordered  the  transfer  of  ratable  property  to  its 
society.  It  must,  without  doubt,  have  been  formed  between 
October,  1701  and  May  13,  1702. 

Rev.  John  Reed,  who  was  a  very  interesting  and   some- 


tjir.)  -eft  i 

•  e 


. 

i£W 

J/TN    •' 
fi\  i/y-A>ajf<pvs  §«*«  11 

/          /  /  /'^J/' 

fc^-  ^--»—         -..-        .  -^\"    O  '*/'  •'tV/ 

J*—  — «^  .  •.  rC» 


^•^'J*'^1^? 

V  //  ,<>x,  < 


MlNUTES    OF    THE    FlRST    RECORDED    MEETING    OF    THE 

ECCLESIASTICAL  SOCIETY,   DECEMBER  29,  1699. 


41 

what  eccentric  young'  man,  about  20  years  old,  a  graduate  of 
Harvard,  was  given  a  unanimous  call  to  the  pastorate  by  the 
society,  Dec.  12,  1700.  He  preached  here  for  two  or  three 
years  but  did  not  accept  the  call  to  settle.  His  subsequent 
career  as  farmer,  preacher  and  lawyer;  for  several  years  state's 
attorney  for  Massachusetts,  was  brilliant  and  displayed  extra- 
ordinary ability.  He  was  considered  the  greatest  common 
lawyer  before  the  Revolution. 

Dec.  30,  1702,  a  call  to  settle  in  the  ministry  here  was  ex- 
tended to  Rev.  Samuel  Woodbridge,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
the  previous  year,  nephew  of  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge  of 
the  Center  Church.  In  1704  the  people  seem  to  have  become 
impatient  because  Mr.  Woodbridge  had  not  yet  taken  upon 
him  the  work  of  a  pastor  here  and  appointed  committees  to 
try  and  hasten  his  ordination  and  settlement,  which  took 
place  March  30,  1705.  He  was  granted  a  salary  of  ^60,  and 
was  given  a  house  and  considerable  land  on  condition  that  he 
remain  here  for  life. 

The  first  meeting  house  was  a  long  time  in  process 
of  completion,  and  did  not  long  answer  the  needs  of  the 
people.  Very  little  is  known  of  this  building,  which  was 
undoubtedly  a  bare  and  uninviting  structure  with  bare  floors 
and  seats,  when  it  had  any  seats,  no  chimney,  and  probably 
not  well  built,  as  there  are  constant  votes  for  its  repair 
after  a  very  short  time.  A  guard  seat  near  the  door  for 
safety  from  the  Indians  was  probably  never  really  needed 
and  was  finally  removed  and  a  pew  built  in  its  place.  The 
meeting  house  was  built  on  the  green  now  rescued  and 
appropriately  marked  through  the  efforts  of  the  Nathan  Hale 
Lyceum  and  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  It 
was  set  on  a  slight  knoll  long  since  removed.  In  1714  gal- 
leries were  ordered  built  and  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  granted 
permission  to  build  himself  a  pew.  Four  years  later  four 
green  casements  were  ordered  for  the  gallery  windows.  In 
1730  the  question  arose  whether  to  add  to  and  thoroughly 
repair  the  meeting  house  or  build  a  new  one,  and  for  several 
years  the  agitation  continues,  large  sums  are  spent  in  repairs, 
but  finally  in  1739,  its  days  of  usefulness  over,  a  new  meeting 
house  was  decreed. 


42 

Of  Mr.  Woodbridge  and  his  ministry  little  is  known.  He  was 
evidently  an  able  minister  who  had  the  affections  of  the  people 
in  a  high  degree.  That  he  was  a  believer  in  good  music  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  his  uncle,  Rev.  Timothy  Wood- 
bridge,  gave  a  singing  lecture  here  in  June,  1727.  This  lecture 
was  printed,  and  as  a  glimpse  of  the  olden  time  let  me  quote 
a  few  sentences  from  the  preface :  ' '  The  following  discourse 
was  delivered  at  a  lecture  for  the  encouragement  of  Regular 
Singing,  a  comely  and  commendable  practice ;  which  for  want 
of  care  in  preserving,  and  skilled  instructors  to  revive,  has 
languished  in  the  country  till  it  is  in  a  manner  Lost  and 
Dead;  yea  it  has  been  so  Long  Dead,  as  with  some  it  Stinketh, 
who  judge  it  a  great  crime  to  Recover  it  againe."  The  psalm 
books  in  use  then  in  this  country  had  no  tunes  in  them  and 
the  tunes  themselves  had  been  forgotten.  The  psalm  was 
lined  out  and  the  singing  conducted  by  a  leader.  Many  con- 
gregations used  only  four  or  five  tunes,  and  often  tunes  called 
by  the  same  name  were  wholly  dissimilar  in  congregations 
but  a  few  miles  apart,  which  is  not  strange  when  it  is  consid- 
ered that  no  notes  had  been  used  for  nearly  a  century  and  the 
tunes  were  such  as  the  leader's  memory  of  tradition  or  invent- 
ive skill  could  furnish.  The  singing  was  slow  and  unmelodi- 
ous  and  the  Woodbridges  were  very  anxious  for  a  return  to 
musical  service.  The  proposed  change  was  fiercely  resisted 
everywhere.  Churches  were  almost  rent  asunder  by  the 
attempt.  It  was  a  common  saying,  "Sing  by  note,  the  next 
thing  will  be  pray  by  rule  and  preach  by  rule,  and  then  comes 
Popery. " 

The  second  meeting  house  was  built  under  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge's  pastorate,  but  before  it  was  completed  he  fell  sick, 
and  was  unable  to  preach  for  several  years  at  the  close  of  his 
life,  so  that  his  active  ministry  is  almost  entirely  associated 
with  the  old  edifice. 

This  second  meeting  house  was  voted  in  1739,  and  Cap- 
tain Joseph  Pitkin,  Captain  Jonathan  Hilles  and  Mr.  Samuel 
Wells  were  chosen  a  building  committee.  The  next  year  they 
requested  the  General  Assembly  to  be  allowed  to  raise  this 
building  east  of  the  old  one,  the  northwest  corner  to  be  not 
more  than  three  feet  from  the  front  of  it,  and  their  request 


43 

was  granted.  The  building-  was  sixty-six  feet  long  north  and 
south  and  forty-six  feet  wide,  twenty-seven  feet  between 
joints,  about  half  the  size  of  this  one.  There  were  three 
doors,  and  aisles  leading  from  them  divided  the  high  square 
pews,  which  had  seats  around  three  sides  and  the  door  orna- 
mented with  slender  turned  balusters  in  the  other.  Narrow 
aisles  gave  access  to  the  other  pews.  The  pulpit  on  the  west 
side  was  high  up  on  the  wall,  a  somewhat  ornate  structure 
with  a  huge  and  ornamental  sounding-  board  over  it  like  a 
great  extinguisher,  or  a  hanging  spire.  Galleries  occupied 
the  other  three  sides,  which  later  were  changed  over  and  used 
for  the  choir.  There  was  no  organ,  and  for  a  long  time  no 
musical  instrument  save  a  pitch  pipe  or  tuning  fork.  The 
floors  and  seats  were  bare,  there  was  no  stove  or  heating 
apparatus  of  any  kind,  not  even  a  chimney.  Outside  it  was 
plain  and  severe.  No  steeple  pointed  its  finger  heavenward. 
No  bell  summoned  the  worshiping  congregation.  Neither 
blinds  nor  curtains  adorned  the  windows,  although  these  may 
have  been  placed  back  of  the  pulpit  later.  Plain  and  bare  as 
this  edifice  was,  it  was  destined  to  have  a  long  life  of  useful- 
ness and  be  a  silent  witness  to  many  outpourings  of  divine 
grace,  and  some  of  the  greatest  revivals  in  our  history. 

The  meeting  house  was  "dignified"  in  1742.  This 
curious  custom,  which  was  continued  until  1824,  consisted  in 
assigning  the  seats  in  accordance  with  taxes  paid,  age,  and 
station  in  life  of  the  parishioners.  Naturally  it  often  led  to 
jealousies  and  hard  feelings.  The  seats  of  honor  were  around 
the  pulpit  and  included,  besides  the  minister's  pew  and 
deacon's  seat,  the  widow's  pew,  which  was  provided  for  those 
who  were  unable  to  pay. 

Mr.  Woodbridge  preached  the  election  sermon  in  1724, 
the  printed  cop}7  of  which  shows  him  to  have  been  a  schol- 
arly, devout  and  practical  preacher,  earnest  and  fearless,  yet 
courteous  ;  somewhat  of  a  reformer,  urging  upon  the  august 
Assembly  the  need  of  restricting  the  drink  traffic. 

He  was  active  in  endeavoring  to  have  Yale  College,  of 
which  he  was  a  fellow  from  1732  to  1743,  moved  to  Hartford. 
He  was  evidently  no  less  beloved  by  his  ministerial  associates 
than  by  his  people,  and  after  his  health  failed,  a  meeting  of 


44 

the  association  was  held  at  his  home  to  have  the  benefit  of  his 
advice  in  the  weighty  matter  of  restraining  Rev.  Geo.  White- 
field's  attacks  on  the  ministers  and  churches.  During  his 
long  illness  preaching  was  provided  when  possible,  but  by  no 
means  regularly.  He  failed  to  furnish  a  pulpit  supply  him- 
self, and  all  efforts  to  settle  a  colleague  failed,  calls  being 
extended  to  Revs.  Chauncey  Whittlesey,  Wm.  Adams,  Jona- 
than Hunting  and  Noah  Welles,  all  of  whom  declined.  Rev. 
Samuel  Newell  was  hired  for  about  two  years,  but  the  church 
having  become  restive  under  the  long  absence  of  regular 
ministrations  attempted  unsuccessfully  to  deprive  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  of  his  salary,  the  General  Court  ordering  it  paid.  After 
forty  years  of  as  faithful  service  as  his  health  permitted  he 
"fell  on  sleep  June  9,  1746." 

After  his  death,  the  church,  in  1747,  extended  a  call  to 
Rev.  Eliphalet  Williams  to  preach  on  probation,  and  the 
society  concurred  six  months  later.  Two  months  after  this  he 
was  called  to  settle  and  was  ordained  and  installed  March  29, 
1748.  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  his  father,  preached  the  ser- 
mon. Revs.  Timothy  Edwards,  Samuel  and  Elnathan  Whit- 
man, Benjamin  Colton,  Stephen  Steel  and  Thomas  White 
were  the  other  officiating  ministers.  At  the  time  of  the 
church's  call,  the  meeting  recorded  a  protest  against  sundry 
articles  in  the  Saybrook  platform,  with  which  they  "were  not 
well  satisfied,"  which  indicated  a  strong  degree  of  Congrega- 
tional independence.  At  the  same  time  they  came  under  its 
consociation  system,  which  resulted  in  the  churches  being 
called  Presbyterian  at  a  later  date. 

Thus  began  the  long  pastorate  of  this  church,  and  one 
which  was  to  powerfully  affect  the  community.  Dr.  Williams 
was  a  strong  man,  very  industrious,  a  profound  scholar,  a 
stern  theologian.  Faithful  according  to  his  beliefs,  and  fear- 
less, he  inspired  awe  and  reverence  rather  than  affection,  but 
was  highly  honored  and  respected.  Some  six  years  after  his 
settlement,  the  meeting  house  was  painted  and  four  big  square- 
pews  were  built  over  the  gallery  reached  by  separate  stair- 
ways. These  were  for  the  colored  people,  slaves  and  servants. 
Low  seats  for  the  children  were  also  built  in  convenient 
places. 


45 

In  1757,  Mr.  George  Pitkin  was  chosen  to  set  the  psalm, 
with  Lieft.  Olmsted,  Mr.  Aaron  Benton  and  Mr.  Russell 
Woodbridge  as  assistants.  Colonel  John  Pitkin  was  desired 
to  read  the  psalm  and  Dr.  Watts  version  of  the  psalms  was 
officially  authorized.  If  we  could  listen  to  that  old  time 
singing  it  might  be  more  instructive  than  edifying. 

A  board  of  elders,  or  a  church  council,  was  instituted  in 
1763,  to  be  composed  of  the  most  wise,  prudent  and  humble 
minded  brethren,  to  consider  cases  of  church  discipline,  which, 
as  the  pastor  sets  forth,  could  not  be  well  attended  to  by  the 
whole  congregation,  and  also  to  advise  with  the  pastor,  who 
laments  the  decline  of  the  visible  purity  of  the  church,  and 
the  looseness  and  error  and  impiety  which  were  growing 
amongst  them.  The  first  board,  the  predecessor  of  the 
present  standing  committee,  consisted  of  Hon.  William  Pitkin, 
governor  of  the  colony,  Deacons  Jonathan  Hills,  John  Pitkin, 
William  Cowles,  William  Pitkin,  Jr.,  Messrs.  Samuel  Smith, 
Isaac  Porter  and  Richard  Oilman.  This  council  with  the  few 
changes  necessitated  by  death  was  continued  many  years. 
That  they  performed  their  duties  is  amply  attested  by  the 
records  which  follow,  which  are  largely  disciplinary  votes. 

The  same  year,  1763,  the  people  of  the  east  end  of  the 
town  called  "the  five  miles,"  who  had  had  preaching  provided 
by  this  church  for  several  years,  petitioned  to  be  made  a 
separate  society.  Their  request  was  not  granted  for  some 
ten  years,  when  it  became  Orford  parish,  now  the  flourishing 
town  of  Manchester.  Among  the  reasons  given  for  opposing 
the  petition  was  "the  great  probability  that  this  society  in  a 
few  years  must  be  divided  into  two  societies  by  the  river 
below  the  meeting  house  ;  it  being  with  much  difficulty  we 
now  meet  together."  It  was  more  than  a  century  before  this 
division  took  place  however.  In  1772,  it  was  voted  that  the 
singing  in  public  on  the  Sabbath  afternoon  be  without  reading 
line  by  line.  It  seems  probable  that  this  was  the  first  serious 
attempt  to  improve  the  singing.  The  front  gallery  and  the 
lower  half  of  the  side  galleries  were  reserved  for  the  singers, 
who  were  arranged,  the  tenor  and  alto  opposite  the  pulpit, 
the  sopranos  in  the  left  and  the  bassos  in  the  right  side 
galleries.  A  person  well  skilled  in  psalmody  was  sought  in 


46 

1783  to  instruct  the  parish  in  the  art  of  regular  singing. 
James  Benjamin  was  secured  for  this  work,  and  for  many 
years  appropriations  were  made  for  "reviving"  the  singing, 
which  seems  to  have  been  a  very  difficult  task,  and  several  sing- 
ing masters  were  hired  and  many  singing  schools  conducted  in 
the  effort. 

In  this  year  the  town  was  separated  from  Hartford 
and  the  church  henceforth  is  known  as  the  First  Congre- 
gational (or  Presbyterian)  Church  in  East  Hartford.  In 
1797,  $100  were  appropriated  for  repairing  and  painting  the 
meeting  house,  and  from  this  time  the  old  reckoning  in 
pounds  is  abandoned  and  the  dollar  is  substituted. 

The  next  year,  Dr.  Williams,  commonly  called  "Priest 
Williams,"  celebrated  his  jubilee,  with  a  sermon  in  which  he 
reviews  the  work  of  a  full  half  century,  with  commendable 
pride.  His  sermon  was  from  the  text  in  i  Thess.  2:  19.  He 
says  he  had  preached  over  5,000  sermons,  he  had  baptized 
2,601  persons,  admitted  274  to  full  communion,  898  had  owned 
the  convenant  and  1,500  had  died  during  his  ministrations. 
During  the  remainder  of  his  pastorate  13  more  were  admitted 
to  the  communion,  and  35  more  acknowledged  the  convenant. 
In  the  later  years  of  his  life  his  stern  Calvinistic  theology 
caused  many  of  his  people  to  withdraw  and  attend  the 
Baptist  and  Methodist  meetings  which  were  held  here,  and  in 
the  effort  to  reclaim  them  he  wrote  tracts,  and  with  more 
fidelity  and  zeal  than  tact,  attempted  to  drive  them  back  into 
the  fold.  Failing  in  this,  they  were  cut  off  from  the  church 
with  the  evident  belief  that  they  had  passed  beyond  redemp- 
tion. The  disproportion  between  the  convenant  and  full 
communion  members  is  a  sufficient  commentary  on  this 
strange  and  anomalous  custom  which  prevailed  in  most  of  the 
churches  up  to  a  hundred  years  ago.  Dr.  Williams  was  one 
of  the  striking  characters  of  our  church's  history,  bringing 
the  old  dress  and  theology  and  manners  down  to  the  end  of 
the  century,  when  having  become  feeble,  it  became  necessary 
to  procure  a  colleague  for  him. 

The  first  Christmas  day  of  the  nineteenth  century  Rev. 
Andrew  Yates  came  from  Union  College,  Schenectady,  where 
he  was  a  professor,  and  was  ordained  and  installed,  Dr. 


PLAN  OF  THE  OLD  "MEETING  HOUSE"  AND  "SEATING  THE  PEWS" 
BY  MR.  ELISHA  BENTON,  (THE  POET.) 

PRESENTED  TO  RAYMOND  LIBRARY 
BY  HIS  GRAND  NIECE,  MRS.  CAROLINE  R.  BOYNTON,  1893. 


47 

Williams  becoming  pastor  emeritus.  The  sermon  was 
preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Dana,  of  New  Haven,  Revs.  Nathan 
Perkins  of  Hartford,  Walter  King-  of  Norwich,  Mr.  Marsh  of 
Wethersfield,  Mr.  Lockwood  of  Glastonbury  and  Mr.  Row- 
land of  Windsor  assisting  in  the  service.  Dr.  Williams  died 
June  29,  1803,  after  fifty-five  years  of  service  here,  two  of 
them  as  pastor  emeritus.  He  left  considerable  of  his  literary 
work,  which  bears  the  impress  of  his  great  learning.  He  also 
held  a  distinguished  place  in  the  state.  His  home,  which  is 
still  standing  although  shorn  of  much  of  its  glory,  is  still  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  our  old  places  here. 

In  the  early  part  of  Mr.  Yates'  pastorate  a  thorough  can- 
vass of  the  town  revealed  six  families  destitute  of  Bibles,  and 
they  were  supplied.  The  standing  committee  was  estab- 
lished at  this  time,  and  the  first  committee  was  Colonel  Jona- 
than Wells,  Deacon  John  Williams,  Messrs.  Gideon  Spencer, 
Samuel  Pitkin,  Eliab  Pratt,  Jr.,  and  Ebenezer  Hills,  Jr. 

In  1807,  Mr.  Yates  calls  for  fasting  and  special  prayer 
because  of  the  low  state  of  vital  piety  in  the  church.  The 
next  year  in  a  jtibilant  vein  he  wrote  "  Let  it  be  recorded  that 
we  have  reason  to  bless  God  for  a  gracious  answer  to  our 
private  prayers  in  the  outpouring  of  His  Spirit  beyond  any- 
thing ever  known  in  this  place.  Oh!  that  we  may  never 
forget,  the  Lord  is  a  hearer  of  prayer.  He  hath  never  said  to 
any  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  seek  ye  my  face,  in  vain. "  In  Decem- 
ber thirty-five  were  added  to  the  church  and  the  beginning  of 
the  next  year  forty  more.  Again  in  1813,  sixty  were  received, 
and  the  last  year  of  his  ministry,  1814,  fifty-one.  Two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven  in  all  were  brought  into  the  church 
during  his  pastorate,  which  included  two  of  the  great  revival 
periods  which  awakened  the  communities  far  and  wide.  Mr. 
Yates  was  a  striking  contrast  to  Dr.  Williams.  Indeed  they 
belonged  to  altogether  different  eras.  The  good  doctor  used 
to  keep  one  of  his  colored  servants  at  home  on  Sunday  to 
have  his  flip  ready  for  him  when  he  returned  from  preach- 
ing. But  Mr.  Yates  was  a  strong  temperance  man,  taking 
a  much  stronger  and  more  vigoroiis  ijtand  than  was  customary 
at  that  time.  The  venerable  doctor  in  his  wig,  silk  stockings 
and  old-time  clerical  garb  was  a  terror  not  only  to  evil  doers, 


48 

but  even  to  the  children.  Mr.  Yates1  work  amongst  the  children 
was  so  successful,  and  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  schools  were 
so  highly  appreciated,  that  the  people  declined  to  accept  his 
resignation,  which  was  tendered  in  1814,  urging  that  his  work 
in  this  field  alone  was  sufficiently  important  to  require  his 
continuance.  He  felt  that  his  call  to  return  to  Union  College 
was  imperative,  and  the  enlarged  opportunity  it  afforded  him, 
too  great  to  be  overlooked,  and  insisting  he  was  dismissed 
with  great  reluctance. 

After  his  removal  calls  were  extended  to  and  declined  by 
Rev.  Isaac  Lewis  and  Rev.  Eber  L.  Clark. 

June  26,  1816,  Rev.  Joy  H.  Fairchild  was  settled  as  pastor. 
His  pastorate  of  eleven  years  covered  a  period  of  intense  and 
widespread  religious  interest,  and  this  church  came  under  its 
influence  in  a  large  degree.  In  1821  there  were  sixty-six 
accessions,  and  in  1827,  eighty-two.  The  latter,  in  the  closing 
year  of  his  pastorate,  was  the  largest  number  on  record.  Two 
hundred  and  four  additions,  of  which  nineteen  were  by  letter, 
are  recorded  under  his  leadership.  In  1 8 1 8  the  first  stoves  were 
put  into  the  meeting  house.  In  1819,  the  first  Sunday  school 
was  organized  with  Major  Samuel  Pitkin,  whose  benign  coun- 
tenance looks  down  from  the  memorial  window  on  the  school 
of  to-day,  as  its  superintendent.  Mrs.  Fairchild,  who  died  in 
1824,  was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  school,  and  used  all  her 
influence  in  behalf  of  its  formation,  as  there  was  considerable 
opposition  to  it. 

Mr.  Fairchild  preached  a  long  series  of  sermons  from  the 
epistle  to  the  Colossians,  taking  his  texts  in  consecutive  order. 

A  gruff  old  colonel  once  interrupted  a  sermon  of  his,  cor- 
recting his  quotation  of  a  passage  somewhat  in  accordance 
with  modern  translations  and  criticism,  and  after  several 
committees  had  interviewed  him  and  he  had  offered  apologies 
to  them,  he  was  finally  excommunicated  because  he  declined 
to  come  and  make  his  apologies  before  the  whole  church.  In 
1824  the  old  practice  of  dignifying  the  meeting  house  gave 
place  to  the  sale  by  auction  which  as  Dr.  Walker  sagely  says 
had  the  advantage  that  it  allowed  a  man  to  set  his  own  value  on 
himself.  Mr.  Fairchild  was  dismissed  in  1827. 


49 

Calls  were  extended  to  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Brace  in  1828  and 
Rev.  Charles  Hyde  in  1829  and  declined.  Then  the  call  to  Mr. 
Brace  was  renewed  but  again  declined. 

Rev.  Asa  Mead,  of  Brunswick,  Me.,  was  installed  August 
17,  1830.  Two  months  later  an  impressive  meeting  was  held, 
when  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  members  present,  pledged  them- 
selves to  each  other  and  to  God  that  they  would  pray  for  a 
revival.  Their  prayers  were  answered  and  the  next  year  forty- 
seven  were  received  into  the  church.  Mr.  Mead's  pastorate 
was  cut  short  by  his  untimely  death,  October  26,  1831,  after  an 
illness  of  nearly  a  month.  His  earnestness  and  intense  and 
unsparing  activity,  which  made  his  brief  year  here  so  successful, 
together  with  the  death  of  his  little  son,  John  Mooney  Mead, 
of  whom  he  had  written  a  memoir,  which  was  in  press  at  the 
time,  may  have  hastened  his  death. 

Rev.  Messrs.  Hooker,  Grosvernor,  Smith,  and  Lee  sup- 
plied the  pulpit  until  February  13,  1833,  when  Rev.  Samuel 
Spring,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  North  Church  (now  the  Park 
Church)  was  installed.  Rev.  Joel  H awes  preached  the  sermon. 
Rev.  Mr.  Riddel  of  Glastonbury,  Rev.  Dr.  Tenney  of  Weth- 
ersfield,  Rev.  Dr.  Perkins  of  West  Hartford  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Vanarsdal  of  the  South  Church,  Hartford,  were  the  other  par- 
ticipants in  the  service.  Dr.  Spring's  long  pastorate  was  one 
of  deep  and  true  prosperity  to  the  church.  In  1834  the  old 
meeting  house,  which  for  nearly  a  century  had  been  the  church 
home  for  this  people,  having  served  its  day  and  generation,  it 
was  determined  to  build  another.  It  seemed  best  to  many  that 
the  location  should  be  changed,  and,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
the  selection  of  a  site  became  a  source  of  so  much  strife  that  a 
disinterested  commission  had  to  be  called  in  to  settle  the  con- 
troversy. They  located  the  edifice  at  the  northernmost  point 
which  they  were  allowed  to  consider,  and  their  decision  was 
finally  accepted  and  a  good  degree  of  satisfaction  and  harmony 
prevailed. 

The  old  building  was  torn  down  in  1835,  in  order  that  all 
available  material  from  it  might  be  used  in  the  new  one,  and 
for  eight  months  the  scattered  congregation  worshiped  in 
three  school  houses.  The  pastor  says  of  the  meetings  at  that 
time,  that  the  gentle  showers  of  grace  have  been  falling  on  the 


50 

congregation  during  the  past  season  and  the  little  school  rooms 
in  which  they  met  seemed  sometimes  almost  filled  with  the 
Divine  presence. 

The  new  meeting  house  was  built  by  Mr.  Chauncey  Shep- 
ard  of  Suffield,  and  was  to  be  in  nearly  every  particular  a 
duplicate  of  the  new  church  in  New  London.  The  building 
committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  William  Bigelow,  George 
Goodwin,  Jr.,  Joseph  Spencer,  Henry  Phelps  and  Samuel 
Brewer,  and  the  contract  price  was  $9,309.  The  town  was  to 
pay  $1,000  toward  the  building  and  have  the  use  of  the  base- 
ment room  "for  the  purpose  of  transacting  public  business  on 
the  days  of  electors  and  town  meetings  only,  subject  at  all 
other  times  to  the  sole  control  of  the  society,"  a  privilege 
which  was  exercised  until  the  bequest  of  the  late  Mr.  Jonathan 
Tremaine  Wells  provided  a  much  more  suitable  and  satisfactory 
place  for  town  business.  The  raising  in  June  1835  was  a  famous 
affair.  It  was  no  light  task  to  raise  into  place  the  massive 
framework.  At  times  there  seemed  to  be  imminent  danger  of 
the  bents  falling  back  on  the  great  crowd  engaged  in  the  rais- 
ing, under  Mr.  Sylvester  G.  Farnham's  direction.  "  There 
was  ample  provision  of  crackers  and  cheese,  lemonade  and 
water,  but  no  rum. "  When  the  building  was  completed  the 
people  took  a  just  pride  in  it,  for  it  was  considered  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  edifices  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  with  its 
carpets  and  purple  velvet  pulpit  cushion,  and  its  handsome  cen- 
ter piece,  it  was  not  only  beautiful,  but  pervaded  with  an  air  of 
dignity  and  comfort  in  harmony  with  its  purpose.  The  dedi- 
cation January  20,  1836,  was  a  great  occasion.  Dr.  Spring's 
sermon  from  Psalm  46:  5.  "God  is  in  the  midst  of  her  "  was  a 
luminous  and  impressive  exhibition  of  the  sentiment  that  "the 
church  enjoys  the  presence  of  God." 

A  large  choir  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  B.  C.  Wade 
furnished  the  music.  Of  that  choir  there  are  now  living,  Mrs. 
James  A.  Moore,  Mrs.  George  S.  Phelps  and  Mr.  Ashbel  Brewer. 
They  were  accompanied  by  an  orchestra  consisting  of  Mr.  Sal- 
mon Phelps,  first  violin,  Mr.  George  S.  Phelps,  second  violin, 
Messrs.  Alfred  Bemis  and  E.  Stearns,  flutes,  and  William  B. 
Johnson,  double  bass  viol.  Of  the  music  the  report  in  the 
"  Courant "  says  that  "  music  is  beginning  to  take  its  rightful 


51 

place  in  our  church  services."  Rev.  Horace  Bushnell  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Tyler  of  the  Theological  Seminary  (then  at  East  Windsor 
Hill),  took  part  in  the  celebration. 

Some  weeks  later  it  was  voted  not  to  encourage  any  per- 
son to  unite  with  the  church  who  uses  or  traffics  in  ardent 
spirits;  evidently  the  result  of  humiliating  experiences  in  pre- 
vious years.  At  this  time  the  change  in  the  observance  of  Sun- 
day was  considered,  and  it  was  voted  to  observe  Sunday  even- 
ing as  holy  time,  and  still  retain  the  observance  of  Saturday 
night.  The  Christian  Psalmist  was  adopted  as  the  hymn  book 
of  the  church.  There  were  thirty-four  additions  to  the  church 
that  year,  thirty-five  the  following,  and  forty-two  the  next.  In 
1841  Rev.  Mr.  Kirk  was  holding  revival  services  in  the  vicinity 
and  all  the  churches  were  feeling  the  stimulus  of  his  work, 
fifty-eight  being  received  here,  and  again  in  1843,  forty-five 
more. 

In  1844  another  unfortunate  choir  difficulty,  which  had  been 
brewing  for  some  two  years,  culminated  with  the  ousting  of  the 
leader  and  some  members  of  the  choir.  But  the  following  year 
Mr.  Albert  Gaines,  having  been  chosen  as  leader,  some  of  the 
principal  offenders  were  returned  and  harmony  was  restored. 
The  violin  and  bass  viol,  which  were  then  in  use,  gave  place 
later  to  the  harmonium,  which  many  of  us  remember,  and  which 
was  used  until  our  organ  was  introduced,  Mr.  Gaines  remain- 
ing as  leader  most  of  the  time. 

In  February,  1852,  a  set  of  rules  for  church  worship  was 
adopted.  Up  to  this  time  it  had  been  the  custom  to  stand  dur- 
ing the  prayer  and  to  turn  and  face  the  choir  at  the  last  hymn. 

The  new  rules  ushering  in  the  present  form  in  these  points 
met  with  considerable  opposition  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
older  members,  who  deemed  them  irreverent  and  clung  to  the 
old  ways.  The  next  year  the  Psalms  and  Hymns  set  forth  by  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut,  was  adopted.  In  1852  anoth- 
er awakening  added  forty-six  to  the  membership,  and  again,  in 
1858  there  were  fifty  added.  As  a  preacher  Dr.  Spring  was 
one  of  those  rare  men  whom  to  hear  once  is  to  remember  al- 
ways. The  perfect  symmetry  and  felicitous  expression  of  his 
beautifully  rounded  sentences,  the  quiet  and  impressive  dignity 
and  refinement  of  manner,  the  convincing  logic,  combined  to 


52 

make  an  impression  which  endures.  Even  the  cold  official 
records  are  permeated  with  the  choice  style  and  apt  expression 
which  show  how  powerful  was  that  calm  and  quiet  influence  on 
all.  In  1860,  his  health  failing,  he  resigned  and  was  made  pas- 
tor emeritus  January  9,  1861.  Five  hundred  and  fourteen  per- 
sons came  into  the  church  under  his  ministration  of  twenty- 
eight  years. 

October  17,  1861,  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes  of  Richmond, 
Vermont,  was  installed  as  pastor.  Rev.  Nathaniel  J.  Burton  de- 
livered the  invocation  and  read  the  Scriptures,  Rev.  George  N. 
Webber  the  introductory  prayer  and  Dr.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock 
preached  the  sermon.  The  installing  prayer  was  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Hawes  and  the  charge  by  Dr.  Spring,  the  concluding  prayer 
by  Dr.  Bushnell.  These  were  stirring  times,  and  Mr.  Holmes 
entered  ardently  into  his  country's  service,  as  chaplain  of  the 
ist  Regiment  of  Connecticut  Cavalry.  Rev.  J.  B.  R.  Walker 
supplied  the  pulpit  during  his  absence  of  two  years.  In  1867  a 
chapel  was  built,  reached  from  the  church  by  a  flight  of  steps, 
a  pipe  organ  built  by  Johnson  of  Westfield  was  placed  in  the 
church  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Boynton,  and 
the  church  debt  was  paid,  it  being  rightly  argued  that  it  was 
easier  to  do  all  these  things  at  once  than  little  by  little.  Dr. 
Crane  was  the  first  organist,  followed  by  Messrs.  William  Ells- 
worth (more  familiarly  known  as  "Blind  Billy, ")  H.  E.  Bissell 
and  A.  W.  Keane,  all  of  whom  presided  at  the  organ  during 
this  time.  Although  there  were  no  great  revivals  the  additions 
to  the  church  were  large  and  constant,  most  of  them  being  the 
younger  people  to  whom  Mr.  Holmes  especially  endeared  him- 
self. One  hundred  and  ninety-nine  are  recorded  as  having 
united  with  the  church  during  his  pastorate,  which  closed  in 
1872. 

In  view  of  the  large  place  he  has  taken  in  this  celebration 
it  is  superfluous  for  me  to  speak  at  length  in  his  behalf.  A 
pleasant  recollection,  for  many  of  us  who  were  children  then, 
is  of  the  open  air  meetings  which  were  held  in  "  Dowd's  Grove, " 
or  on  the  banks  of  the  Hockanum  River  in  Burnside,  on  pleasant 
Sunday  afternoons  in  lieu  of  the  afternoon  service  at  the  church, 
which  with  the  old  time  midday  lunch  was  continued  until  this 
time.  These  open  air  meetings  were  productive  of  great  good, 


THE  ORGAN. 


53 

many  conversions  dated  from  them,  and  their  influences  on  the 
moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  town  was  salutary.  The 
"  Book  of  Praise"  in  the  preparation  of  which  Mr.  Holmes  was 
interested,  was  adopted  for  church  worship  at  this  time  and  was 
used  until  1886.  The  Semi-Centennial  of  the  Sunday  school 
was  celebrated  in  1869,  and  to  the  efforts  of  the  pastor  on  that 
occasion  is  due  much  information  concerning  the  early  history, 
manners  and  customs,  and  descriptions  of  the  old  meeting 
house. 

September  3,  1873,  F.  H.  Buffum,  from  the  Windsor 
Avenue  Church,  Hartford  was  installed.  Eleven  persons  united 
with  the  church  on  profession  and  twelve  by  letter  during  the 
two  and  a  half  years  he  was  here.  He  was  deposed  from  the 
ministry,  April  26,  1876.  The  organists  during  this  period 
were,  Mr.  Henry  Cox  and  Mr.  A.  L.  Conkey. 

Rev.  Theodore  T.  Munger,  D.  D.,  came  here  as  stated 
supply  in  1876.  That  year  the  church  was  badly  damaged  by 
fire,  supposed  to  have  been  of  incendiary  origin,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  remodel  it  largely.  At  that  time  the  handsome 
fluted  Ionic  pillars  under  the  galleries  were  removed,  and  these 
iron  ones  substituted.  The  old  pews  with  their  doors  dis- 
appeared in  favor  of  the  more  comfortable  slips,  the  ceiling 
was  altered  and  frescoed,  the  pulpit  platform  lowered  and  in 
fact  nearly  the  entire  interior  changed  in  appearance.  These 
alterations  increased  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  the  room, 
but  at  the  sacrifice  of  some  of  its  beauty.  The  disappearance 
of  the  time  honored  broad  aisle  was  lamented  by  many.  At 
the  re-dedication  Dr.  Munger  calling  attention  to  the  inscrip- 
tion on  the  new  pulpit  "  Preach  the  Word,"  said  it  was  most  ap- 
propriate that  it  should  adorn  the  side  next  the  congregation, 
as  a  constant  reminder  that  it  was  no  less  the  duty  of  the  peo- 
ple than  the  minister  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel. 

September  i,  1877,  the  South  Church  was  set  off,  becoming 
the  second  daughter  of  this  old  church.  Good  Dr.  Spring 
passed  to  his  reward  December  13,  of  that  year. 

The  great  revival  wave  which  swept  over  the  country, 
under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Moody  just  coming  into  the  height 
of  his  power,  reached  Hartford  in  1877  and  '78.  As  an  after- 
math a  series  of  meeting  under  Young  Men's  Christian  Associ- 


ation  auspices  were  held  here  in  March  and  April  1878,  with 
signal  success. 

April  1 8,  1878,  Rev.  Richard  Meredith,  formerly  pastor  of 
the  First  Methodist  church  in  Hartford,  was  installed.  Rev. 
Dr.  Nathaniel  J.  Burton  preached  the  sennon.  Rev.  Wm.  L. 
Gage,  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Twichell,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  W.  Scudder, 
Rev.  George  A.  Bowman,  Rev.  W.  P.  Clancy,  Rev.  A.  C. 
Adams  and  Rev.  S.  W.  Robbins  were  the  other  ministers 
participating.  In  July  the  harvest  of  the  earlier  meeting  was 
reaped  in  the  largest  addition  to  the  church,  on  profession  of 
faith,  for  a  score  of  years  previously,  and  it  has  never  been 
equaled  since.  Forty-five  were  admitted  during  the  year.  The 
old  bell  having  become  cracked  it  was  recast  and  enlarged, 
and  the  valuable  tower  clock  placed  in  position,  by  the  gener- 
osity of  Mr.  Albert  C.  Raymond  whose  public  spirit  the  town 
has  reason  to  gratefully  remember  for  all  time. 

An  able  and  scholarly  preacher,  deeply  interested  in  the 
intellectual  and  educational,  as  well  as  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
the  people,  Mr.  Meredith  conducted  classes  for  Bible  study 
and  also  his  successful  English  history  class.  He  served  the 
church  faithfully,  for  six  years,  resigning  in  February  1884. 
Mr.  Howard  C.  Gaines  was  organist  and  choir  director  until 
1883,  when  Miss  Annie  E.  Viner  took  the  position,  which  she 
filled  acceptably  for  six  years,  Mr.  William  H.  Olmsted  acting 
as  choir  director. 

Rev.  F.  S.  Hatch,  now  secretary  of  the  Christian  Endeavor 
Society  of  India,  supplied  the  pulpit  for  several  months  most 
satisfactorily. 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Nash,  was  ordained  and  installed  as 
pastor,  October  22,  1884. 

The  town  was  just  beginning  to  feel  the  effect  of  industrial 
changes  and  the  new  conditions  and  rapid  growth  stimulated 
an  intense  activity,  in  which  both  pastor  and  people  shared. 
The  pastor  by  reason  of  his  interest  in  the  seminary  had  several 
of  the  students  as  assistants  in  various  lines  of  work. 

January  20,  1886,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  dedication 
of  the  meeting  house  was  celebrated,  and  the  account  of  the 
building  of  the  meeting  house,  told  by  Deacon  George  H. 
Goodwin,  was  exceedingly  interesting  and  valuable,  as  were 


55 

the  reminiscences  by  Mr.  William  M.  Stanley.  That  year  our 
present  hymn  book  "  Laudes  Domini!"  was  adopted  and  the 
Psalter  with  responsive  readings  first  used.  The  following 
year,  having  become  convinced  of  the  value  that  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Society  might  become  in  the  life  of  the  church,  Mr. 
Nash  led  in  the  organization  of  one  here,  and  found  his 
expectations  justified  in  the  cordial  support  which  the  young 
people  gave  to  the  church  work.  For  thirty-five  years  the 
primary  Sunday  school  had  met  in  a  room  in  the  basement, 
but  it  had  long  been  considered  unsuitable  and  in  1888  the 
chapel  was  moved  back  from  the  church  and  fitted  up  for 
the  library,  Bible  class,  and  primary  rooms,  and  the  main 
chapel  was  built,  with  its  extensive  facilities  for  all  the  require- 
ments of  church  work.  The  memorial  window  was  presented 
by  descendants  of  Major  Samuel  Pitkin,  the  first  superinten- 
dent of  the  Sunday  school,  and  active  in  all  church  work.  At 
the  dedication  Rev.  Mr.  Holmes  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hatch,  and 
Mr.  Charles  Leonard  Pitkin,  were  among  the  speakers.  The 
custom  of  the  annual  dinner  was  inaugurated  with  about  180  at 
the  table,  and  it  has  been  continued  to  the  present  time.  Mr. 
Henry  Dike  Sleeper  became  organist  and  choir  master  in  1889, 
and  did  most  successful  work  not  only  in  this  but  in  all  lines 
of  church  activity,  during  the  nearly  three  years  he  remained 
here.  The  system  of  assigning  seats,  instead  of  auctioning 
them,  was  now  introduced  and  for  a  time  proved  adequate  to 
furnishing  the  support  of  the  church.  Mr.  Nash's  warm  inter- 
est in  foreign  missions,  born  of  a  first  hand  knowledge  of  them, 
led  to  a  more  hearty  response  from  the  people  than  ever  before. 
In  1890  the  standing  committee  was  enlarged  by  the  addition 
of  two  ladies;  the  first  official  recognition  the  ladies  had, 
although  their  right  to  vote  had  been  established  fifteen  years 
earlier,  after  considerable  opposition.  Mr.  Nash  resigned  and 
was  dismissed  May  19,  1890.  During  his  pastorate  106  persons 
imited  with  the  church,  forty-two  of  them  in  the  year  following 
his  settlement. 

In  July  a  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  Robert  Chambers,  a 
former  missionary,  returned  to  this  country  on  account  of  the 
health  of  his  family,  he  declined  the  call,  however,  and 
December  17,  1890,  Rev.  Samuel  Allan  Barrett,  of  Castleton, 


56 

Vermont,  was  installed.  The  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  G.  W. 
Phillips  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  trom  the  text  Rom.  8:19,  was 
a  notable  one.  The  other  participants  were  Revs.  Messrs. 
Richard  Meredith,  S.  W.  Robbins,  Henry  H.  Kelsey,  John 
Barstow  and  Professor  Nash.  The  eight  and  one-half  years 
pastorate  of  Mr.  Barrett  was  a  period  of  development  of  many 
lines  of  church  work.  The  institutional  church  idea  (intro- 
duced under  Mr.  Nash's  pastorate)  was  being  tried  in  many 
places,  and  many  of  its  features  were  adopted  here  with  vary- 
ing success.  The  Boys'  Brigade,  the  gymnasium,  the  kinder- 
garten and  the  Junior  Endeavor  society  are  among  the  many 
plans  tried  for  bringing  the  church  and  its  work,  in  the  most 
helpful  way,  to  the  people.  The  organ,  always  fine  toned, 
was  remodeled  and  enlarged  by  Messrs.  Woodruff  and  Whiton. 
Messrs.  W.  T.  Schneider,  Denslow  King,  Fred  S.  Smith  and 
H.  D.  Sleeper,  were  the  organists  ^during  this  time.  With 
Mr.  Smith's  cooperation  many  improvements  in  the  musical 
part  of  the  church  service  were  introduced,  many  of  the  ser- 
vices in  which  organand  choir  played  a  prominent  part  being 
worthy  of  note. 

March  8,  1894,  the  church  was  incorporated,  and  in  March 
1895,  the  ecclesiastical  society  which  for  196  years  had  cared 
for  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  church,  transferred  its  property 
to  it  and  having  finished  its  mission,  passed  into  history. 

The  adoption  of  the  present  free  seat  system,  for  which 
the  way  had  been  prepared  by  the  assignment  of  seats  which 
proved  somewhat  difficult,  as  the  old  practice  of  "dignifying" 
had  been,  was  accomplished. 

From  an  ideal  standpoint  faultless,  as  a  means  of  support- 
ing the  church  it  has  never  proved  a  pronounced  success.  The 
electric  railway  and  the  rapid  growth  of  the  town  has  made 
great  changes  in  the  condition  of  church  work,  greatly  increas- 
ing its  difficulties.  Yet  150  members  were  added,  thirty-six  of 
them  in  the  last  year  of  Mr.  Barrett's  service.  He  was  dis- 
missed May  12,  1899. 

For  the  next  six  months  Professor  E.  E.  Nourse  supplied 
the  pulpit  admirably.  December  3,  of  the  same  year,  Rev. 
William  Bodle  Tuthill,  our  present  pastor,  began  his  service 
and  was  installed  November  7,  1900.  The  sermon  was  by 


57 

Professor  A.  R.  Merriam,  the  other  parts  of  the  service  being 
performed  by  Rev.  Messrs.  O.  W.  Means,  Francis  P.  Bacheler, 
George  F.  Waters,  William  W.  Ranney,  Clarence  H.  Barber, 
William  F.  English  and  Professor  Edward  E.  Nourse.  Since 
that  time  the  music  has  been  in  charge  of  Mrs.  N.  L.  Bronson, 
Mr.  Alfred  W.  Driggs  and  Mr.  L.  B.  Hawley. 

In  the  154  years  covered  by  our  church  records  there  have 
been  received  into  the  church  about  1940  full  communion 
members  and  933  have  acknowledged  the  convenant,  all  of  the 
latter  during  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Williams.  What  a  cloud  of 
witnesses!  And  what  a  power  these  lives  have  been  on  this 
community  in  which  they  lived. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the 
high  privilege  of  preparing  this  all  too  meager  and  incomplete 
story  of  this  beloved  old  church  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
the  two  centuries  concluded.  They  have  witnessed  the  growth 
of  this  people  from  the  simple,  primitive,  hard  life  of  the 
early  days,  when  even  our  supposed  necessities  were  not  even 
dreamed  of  by  the  most  affluent,  to  the  present,  better  than 
even  the  best  of  the  good  old  times.  Of  the  grand  worthies 
and  saints  of  former  days  and  the  noble  record  they  have  left 
behind  them,  in  church,  in  town,  in  state  and  nation  I  had 
hoped  to  speak,  but  in  the  necessarily  circumscribed  limits  of 
this  paper  found  it  impossible.  Notwithstanding  these,  and 
neither  overlooking  the  great  merits  of  much  that  they  accom- 
plished, often  against  great  odds;  nor  forgetting  the  crying 
evils  of  this  present  day,  yet  the  pessimist  is  out  of  place. 
Indeed  a  study  of  the  old  records  of  this  church  should  prove  a 
good  cure  for  pessimism.  In  fact  considerable  portions  of  them 
it  would  seem  injudicious  to  publish  to  say  the  least. 

This  is  neither  a  time  for  discouragement  with  the  present 
nor  for  complacent  drifting  with  the  current,  satisfied  with  the 
achievements  of  our  forbears,  but  rather  an  incentive  to  us  to 
bend  to  our  oars  and  steadily  press  this  craft  freighted  with  the 
precious  heritage  of  the  past,  and  the  hope  for  the  future, 
against  the  tide  toward  a  higher  and  better  haven,  where, 
when  we  become  weary  we  can  pass  the  oars  to  new  hands  and 
rest  the  rest  that  comes  from  honest  labor  well  performed. 
And  we  have  the  divine  assurance  that  our  labor  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord. 


58 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


The  following  biographical  sketches  are  given  to  supplement  the  preceding  history. 


Rev.  SAMUEL   WOODBRIDGE. 

There  is  little  known  of  the  life  and  ministry  of  Mr. 
Woodbridge  aside  from  what  has  been  given  by  Mr.  Olmsted 
in  the  history  of  the  church.  The  following  facts,  however, 
concerning  his  ancestry  are  of  sufficient  interest  to  receive 
notice  here. 

Rev.  Samuel  Woodbridge  was  youngest  son  of  Rev. 
Benjamin  Woodbridge,  who  preached  at  Windsor,  Conn.,  at 
Bristol,  R.  J.,  and  at  Medford,  Mas^.  Rev.  Benjamin  Wood- 
bridge  was  second  son  of  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  who  was 
born  at  Stan  ton,  Eng.,  in  1613,  and  came  to  New  England 
with  his  uncle,  Rev.  Thomas  Parker,  in  1634.  He  was 
ordained  minister  at  Andover,  Mass.,  in  1645.  Rev.  John 
Woodbridge  was  eldest  son  of  Rev.  John  Woodbridge,  Rector 
of  Stanton,  Wiltshire,  Eng.,  who  died  in  1637.* 


oe. 


Tombstone  marking  the  Grave  of  Mr.  Woodbridge  in  Center  Cemetery,  East  Hartford. 
*Goodwin's  History  of  East  Hartford. 


59 


Rev.  ELIPHALET   WILLIAMS,    D.  D.* 

"The  next  year  (1748)  Mr.  Eliphalet  Williams  accepted 
a  call  to  settle  here.  His  salary  was  to  be  ^65  a  year  and 
four  contributions  which  were  to  be  taken.  Six  years  later 
the  currency  had  reached  so  low  a  state  of  depreciation  that 
the  committee  decided  that  it  would  require  ^867  in  bills  of 
the  old  tenor  to  pay  his  salary  of  ,£80.  In  1755  a  price  for 
grain  was  agreed  upon  with  him,  that  he  might  be  paid  in 
that  commodity.  His  wood  was  at  all  times  a  part  of  his 
salary,  and  various  persons  were  paid  for  cording  it  for  him, 
that  he  might  get  good  measure.  At  one  time  Mr.  Benoni 
Hale  and  at  another  Mr.  Jonathan  Stanley  performed  this 
service  for  him,  receiving  6d.  per  cord  from  the  society. 

In  1778  Mr.  Williams  was  voted  £90  salary,  and  ^450 
(old  tenor)  in  consideration  of  the  extraordinary  price  of  pro- 
visions and  the  necessaries  of  life. 

About  the  year  1799  Mr.  Williams,  having  served  his 
people  long  beyond  the  time  usually  allotted  to  such  constant 
service  as  his,  began  to  feel  the  weaknesses  of  old  age.  It 
became  necessary  to  support  another  minister,  and  the  society 
asked  him  to  relinquish  his  claims  upon  them.  He  replied 
that  this  he  could  not  do.  He  finally  consented  to  retire  on 
an  annual  salary  of  ^no.  This  was  in  1801.  He  died  June 
29,  1803,  aged  77  years,  and  in  the  56th  year  of  his  ministry. 
He  was  settled  here  about  53  years. 

Many  stories  remain  of  Dr.  Williams,  — Parson  Williams, 
or  Priest  Williams,  as  he  was  often  called, — and  there  are 
still  a  few  who  remember  him.  He  wore  the  old-time  minis- 
ter's dress,  with  black  stockings  and  knee-breeches,  a  straight- 
buttoned  waistcoat,  with  the  ends  of  his  broad  white  band 
showing  on  his  chest.  A  big  white  wig,  so  large  that  a  child 
once  called  it  a  lamb,  covered  his  head ;  on  top  of  this  he  wore 
a  large,  stiff,  broad-brimmed  hat.  He  had  a  high  sense  of 
the  dignity  and  sancity  of  his  office.  Some  thought  him 
domineering,  and  David  Crosby,  in  1766,  wrote  him  a  long 
letter  in  which  he  stoutly  arraigns  the  clergy  in  general,  and 
Mr.  Williams  in  particular,  for  trying  to  make  themselves 

*Copied  by  permission  from  Goodwin's  History  of  East  Hartford. 


60 

"lord's  over  the  heritage  of  God,  and  to  make  merchan- 
dise of  the  souls  of  men."  Mr.  Williams  was  certainly  a 
sturdy  theologian  of  the  old  school,  who  would  not  be  likely 
to  make  concessions  to  any  one.  His  was  not  a  nature  to  be 
tolerant,  and  one  of  the  phrases  which  he  put  into  Governor 
Pitkin's  epitaph  pictures  him  most  palpably  to  our  conceptions 
as  "Scattering  away  evil  with  his  eye" — especially  since  we 
have  been  told  that  the  children  would  crawl  under  the  fences 
and  hide  when  they  saw  him  coming  along  the  street.  A 
man  of  that  sort  is  never  cordially  loved,  and  no  doubt  he  did 
call  some  of  the  wood  which  his  parishioners  were  obliged  to 
bring  him,  "crooked  stuff,"  and,  perhaps,  with  cause.  It  is 
said  he  told  Benjamin  Roberts  that  his  load  had  in  it  the 
making  of  all  the  letters  in  the  alphabet.  Roberts  promptly 
drove  home  and  left  none  of  his  wood.  A  Mr.  Warren  came  and 
began  to  unload.  "  I  cannot  have  it  put  down  there,"  said 
Dr.  Williams.  "I  am  going  to  leave  some  of  it  there,"  said 
Warren,  and  hurled  it  about  so  promiscuously  that  the  good 
Doctor  was  fain  to  retreat  into  the  house.  A  man  once  mow- 
ing for  Dr.  Williams  did  not  bend  very  low  to  his  work.  "My 
cow,"  said  the  Doctor,  mildly,  "loves  the  roots  of  the  grass." 
"Just  so,"  said  the  man,  keeping  right  on  with  his  mowing; 
"  you  see  I  am  leaving  them  for  her." 

These  trivial  anecdotes,  however,  show  only  the  surface 
humor  of  the  man.  His  work  here,  the  many  honorable  titles 
he  bore,  and  his  literary  remains,  show  him  to  have  been  a 
man  of  large  attainments  for  his  day,  and  one  of  profound 
convictions,  and  a  champion  of  them  who  hesitated  at  no 
inconvenience  to  himself  to  assert  and  maintain  them.  He 
clung  to  his  dark  views  of  what  in  the  unlovely  phraseology 
of  that  day  was  known  as  "infant  damnation,"  until  many 
of  the  mothers  in  Israel  withdrew  from  his  preaching  and 
went  to  the  Baptist  meetings,  which  were  then  first  held,  and 
drew  their  husbands  with  them.  Then  he  launched  a  dia- 
logue pamphlet  after  them,  entitled  "  Sophronistes :  Persuad- 
ing the  people  to  reverence  the  ordinances  of  God  in  the 
teachings  of  their  own  Pastors.  Hartford:  1795."  He  did  not 
remit  his  labors  against  the  new  sects  even  when  his  own 
son  joined  them,  although  he  is  said  to  have  been  less  bitter 
against  them  from  that  time. 


PARSON    WILLIAMS'   HOUSE. 


61 

Of  his  home  life  we  also  know  something.  He  had  his 
favorite  arm-chair  by  the  fireside,  and  after  supper  he  would 
sit,  while  his  daughter  dutifully  filled  his  long  pipe  for  him 
from  his  smoking-box,  which  hung  hard  by  the  fireplace,  and 
brought  it  to  him  with  a  coal  in  the  little  tongs.  In  his  last 
days  he  smoked  a  good  deal;  but  one  day  he  put  his  pipe 
away,  saying,  "What  right  has  a  dying  man  to  smoke  ?"  and 
never  took  it  again.  His  smoking  kit,  and  pipes,  and  tongs 
are  still  preserved  by  the  writer,  who  has  many  curious  things 
from  his  household.  Rev.  Dr.  E.  P.  Parker,  of  Hartford,  has 
his  old  arm-chair. 

Like  most  ministers  of  his  time,  Dr.  Williams  thought  he 
needed  something  warm  to  drink  after  his  Sunday  sermons, 
and  one  of  his  black  women  used  to  remain  at  home  to  have 
his  flip  iron  hot  when  he  arrived.  Among  his  papers  was 
found  a  recipe  for  making  "shrub,"  a  liquor  composed  of 
three  quarts  of  grape  juice  and  two-thirds  as  much  "rumm," 
kindly  copied  for  him  by  some  friend,  who  pronounced  it, 
when  sweetened  and  diluted  with  about  twelve  quarts  of 
water,  an  "agreeable  liquor."  Such  were  the  customs  and 
courtesies  of  this  time. 

Dr.  Williams'  study  was  a  mere  closet,  not  over  five  feet 
square,  with  a  north  window.  It  contained  his  chair  and  a 
small  table,  over  which  were  shelves  with  his  few  books,  all 
within  reach.  This  was  his  sanctum,  and  his  children,  want- 
ing him,  came  and  rapped — once.  If  he  did  not  answer,  they 
went  softly  away.  Sometimes  he  would  open  the  door,  with- 
out getting  up,  and  pass  out  to  them  an  apple,  or  a  pear,  or  a 
piece  of  melon,  and  they  would  thank  him  reverently  and  go 
away. 

His  house,  on  the  east  side  of  Main  street,  near  the  site 
of  the  old  meeting-house,  and  late  the  home  of  Mr.  Edward 
W.  Hayden,  is  a  study  in  old-time  architecture.  It  was  built 
for  him  by  Benjamin  Roberts,  and  has  a  spacious  hall,  and 
low,  easy  stairway,  with  unpainted,  hand- wrought  banisters. 
There  is  much  wainscoting  and  elaborate  molding,  even  the 
"  escallop  shell  "  closets  in  the  parlor  being  minutely  molded 
and  trimmed.  The  ceilings  are  low,  and  traversed  by  large 
beams;  and  there  are  endless  cupboards  and  closets.  The 


62 


FARSON  WILLIAMS'  DOOEWffi 


back  rooms  are  finished  in 
yellow  pine  and  are  unpaint- 
ed.  The  house  is  gambrel- 
roofed,  and  over  the  chambers 
is  an  immense  attic,  until 
within  a  short  time  a  perfect 
curiosity  shop  in  old-time 
trumpery.  A  low,  unceiled 


i    chamber,    under   the   rafters, 


called  the  meal  room,  is  the 
"black  hole"  where  the  ne- 
gresses  used  to  sleep, — a  com- 
plete sweat-box  in  summer. 
The  first  paper  hangings  that 
were  used  in  this  town  were 
really  hung  in  the  parlors  of 
this  house,  having  been  tacked 
loosely  to  the  walls.  They  are 
of  a  large  brown  velvet  figure 
upon  a  green  ground.  This 


paper  was  sent  from  England  expressly  for  Dr.  Williams. 
Afterwards  paper  was  pasted  on  the  walls  here,  and  the  bor- 
der, uncut,  was  put  around  under  the  windows  in  a  broad 
strip,  the  use  of  it  not  being  understood. 

Dr.  Williams'  sermons  cover  a  richly  interesting  period  of 
our  history,  from  1748  to  1801.  But  they  are  so  finely  written, 
on  such  scanty  sheets  of  paper,  that  most,  beyond  the  Scrip- 
ture text,  are  utterly  undecipherable,  showing  mere  crooked 
pen-strokes  across  the  page.  He  wrote  in  a  time  when  paper 
was  scarce  and  high  in  price. 

Some  of  his  printed  sermons  remain.  One  delivered  on 
the  Sabbath  after  "the  late  terrible  earthquake,"  Nov.  23, 
X755>  by  Eliphalet  Williams,  A.  M.,  shows  "The  Duty  of 
People  under  dark  Providences  or  symptoms  of  approaching 
evils  to  prepare  to  meet  their  God."  To  which  is  appended 
an  account  of  previous  earthquakes  in  New  England, — eleven 
in  all, —  of  which  this  was  the  "fifth  that  has  been  general 
and  very  awakening," — to  wit:  one  in  1638,  one  in  1658,  one 
January  26th  and  28th,  1662-63,  an^  one  in  J727>  and  one  in 


PAGE  OF    SERMON 
WRITTEN    BY    PARSON    WILLIAMS   IN    1779. 


63 

i755-  This  sermon  was  printed  by  Timothy  Green,  New 
London,  1756.  We  have  also  a  sermon  (unprinted)  of  August, 
1757,  on  the  occasion  of  a  public  fast  on  the  taking  of  Fort 
Henry.  This  was  used  again  on  some  similar  occasion  in 
1776.  The  text  is,  "  Humble  yourselves  therefore,"  etc. 

A  thanksgiving  sermon  of  March  6,  1760,  on  the  taking  of 
Quebec,  was  printed  by  Green  of  New  London.  Its  theme  is, 
"God's  wonderful  goodness  in  succeeding  the  arms  of  his 
people  to  be  acknowledged  and  celebrated  with  rejoicing  and 
praise." 

Dr.  Williams  preached  the  election  sermon  before  the 
General  Assembly  in  May,  1769.  His  sermon  on  the  death  of 
Gov.  William  Pitkin,  in  October,  1769,  delivered  in  our  old 
meeting-house  at  the  funeral,  before  many  of  the  dignitaries 
of  the  State,  was  prepared  in  a  marvelously  short  time,  and 
indicates  a  capacity  for  work  which  few  men  have.  It  was  on 
"  The  Ruler's  duty  and  honor  in  serving  his  generation,  and 

his  dismission  by  death,  and  entering  into  peace 

Acts,  xiii,  36, by  Eliphalet  Williams,  V.  D.  M. 

Hartford,  Green  &  Watson,  1770."  Dr.  Williams  also  wrote 
Governor  Pitkin's  epitaph,  as  he  did  many  another  notable  one 
in  our  burying  grounds.  At  the  induction  of  Dr.  Stiles  to 
the  presidency  of  Yale  College,  July  15,  1778,  Dr.  Williams, 
Senior  and  Presiding  Fellow,  made  the  opening  prayer  and 
delivered  an  oration  in  Latin.  His  Sophronistes  pamphlet 
was  published  in  1795.  Rev.  David  McClure  of  East  (now 
South)  Windsor,  said  of  him  in  his  funeral  sermon:  "He 
possessed  quickness  of  apprehension,  imagination,  great  sen- 
sibility, and  zeal.  He  imbibed  the  principles  of  the  Puritan 
fathers,  and  his  diction  was  flowing,  pathetic,  impressive.  He 
supported  an  unblemished  reputation,  and  magnified  his 
office."  Niles  &  Pease's  Gazetteer  says  of  him  that  "he  was 
distinguished  as  a  man  of  science,  a  preacher,  and  divine." 

Dr.  Williams  was  a  man  of  almost  tireless  industry,  who 
let  go  no  opportunity  to  impress  the  great  concerns  of  life  and 
of  death  upon  his  people.  His  talents,  which  belonged  to  an- 
other age  than  ours,  we  cannot  rightly  estimate.  To  his  own 
generation  "he  was  an  able,  orthodox,  faithful,  laborious,  ex- 
emplary, and  successful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  patient 


under  sharp  bodily  distress,  resigned  to  the  will  of  his  Master, 
he  committed  himself  to  Him  who  judgeth  righteously." 
( His  tombstone.) 

Dr.  Williams  came  of  a  family  famous  for  its  ministers. 
He  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Feb.  21,  1727;  graduated  at  Yale, 
1743,  and  ordained,  1748.  He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Solomon 
Williams,  D.  D.,  of  Lebanon,  and  grandson  of  Rev.  William 
Williams  of  Hatfield,  whose  ancestors  came  from  England  to 
Roxbury,  Mass.  He  was  a  brother  of  William  Williams,  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


Tombstone  marking  the  Grave  of  Dr.  Williams  in  Center  Cemetery,  East  Hartford. 


65 

Rev.   ANDREW  YATES,    D.D. 

Eminent  for  his  piety  and  scholarship,  Rev.  Andrew 
Yates,  D.D.,  who  became  the  third  installed  pastor  of  this 
church,  was  a  most  worthy  successor  to  Mr.  Woodbridge  and 
Dr.  Williams. 

Mr.  Yates  was  born  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y. ,  January  15, 
1772.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  graduated  from  Yale 
College.  He  received  the  second  honor  upon  graduation. 
He  began  at  once  the  study  of  theology  under  Rev.  John  H. 
Livington,  D.  D.,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1797.  About 
this  time  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Languages  in  Union 
College,  Schenectady.  He  held  this  professorship  for  four 
years,  when  he  accepted  the  call  to  East  Hartford.  Here  he 
labored  with  great  fidelity  for  nearly  fourteen  years.  Not 
only  did  he  faithfully  perform  the  ordinary  duties  of  the 
pastorate,  but  to  these  were  added  much  work  of  an  educa- 
tional nature,  especially  such  as  was  involved  in  the  prepar- 
ation of  young  men  for  the  ministry. 

In  1814  he  resigned  his  pastorate  here  that  he  might 
accept  the  invitation  of  the  trustees  of  Union  College  to 
return  to  that  institution,  this  time  to  become  Professor  of 
"Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy."  His  theological  students 
went  with  him  to  Schenectady ;  thus  for  a  time  he  performed 
the  duties  of  both  a  theological  and  a  collegiate  professor. 
Preaching,  however,  was  his  great  delight,  and  it  was  said 
'  that  there  were  but  few  Presbyterian  and  Dutch  churches 
within  a  circuit  of  thirty  miles  around  Schenectady,  in  which 
he  had  not  often  spoken  of  the  preciousness  of  Christ. ' 

Dr.  Yates  was  deeply  interested  in  the  missionary  cause, 
and  was  an  active  member  of  a  society  formed  in  1820  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  American  Indians.  In  1822  he  was  a 
member  of  a  commission  sent  out  by  this  society  to  explore 
certain  parts  of  the  west,  and  north-west,  with  a  view  to 
the  establishment  of  schools  among  the  Indians.  It  appears 
that  through  his  efforts  a  mission  station  was  established  at 
"  Mackinaw." 

He  was  also  an  ardent  advocate  of  temperance.  In  this 
matter  he  was  doubtless  considered  an  extremist,  for  he 
advocated  not  only  temperance  but  total  abstinence  even,  and 
this  at  a  day  when  it  was  customary  for  ministers  to  have 


66 

liquors  set  out  at  their  councils  and  conferences.  When  the 
council  met  to  dismiss  him  from  East  Hartford,  he  complied 
with  this  custom,  to  the  extent,  that  he  set  out  four  bottles  for 
the  use  of  the  brethern,  but  he  expressed  his  disapproval  by 
remarking,  "Brethern,  here  is  rum,  gin,  brandy,  laudanum, 
—  all  poison, — help  yourselves!" 

In  1825  he  resigned  his  professorship  at  Union  College, 
and  by  the  aid  of  a  brother,  Hon.  John  B.  Yates,  he  estab- 
lished a  school  at  Chittenango,  N.Y.  This  was  "a high  school 
of  a  more  elevated  kind  than  any  that  had  been  previously  in 
the  United  States."  While  conducting  this  school  he  estab- 
lished a  Protestant  Reformed  Dutch  Church  at  Chittenango, 
and  was  instrumental  in  the  erection  of  a  "large  and  beauti- 
ful edifice." 

In  1836  he  removed  once  more  to  Schenectady.  During 
the  remaining  eight  years  of  his  life  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  interests  of  feeble  churches.  "  He  established,  resusci- 
tated, or  greatly  aided,  no  less  than  thirteen  congregations 
in  the  Presbyterian  and  Dutch  connections." 

In  the  sermon  preached  at  his  funeral  Rev.  Wm.  H. 
Campbell,  D.  D. ,  refers  to  the  last  work  of  Dr.  Yates  in  these 
words :  ' '  But  his  last  work  and  labor  of  love  is  a  story  of 
touching  interest.  His  work  at  Fonda  being  finished,  he 
returned  once  more  to  the  bosom  of  his  family.  But  he  could 
not  be  idle,  so  he  looked  about  him  to  see  what  he  could  do 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  men.  His  thoughts 
were  directed  to  the  valley  of  the  Sacondaga.  He  had  been 
often  there  in  his  youth,  and  as  to  his  recollection  its  high 
mountains  presented  themselves,  thickly  dotted  with  the 
humble  cottages  of  the  hardy  mountaineer,  it  grieved  him  to 
think  that  there  the  sound  of  the  church-going  bell  was  never 
heard;  and  that  the  people  were  perishing  for  the  lack  of 
knowledge,  for  they  had  none  to  break  to  them  the  bread  of 
life.  His  purpose  was  soon  formed.  "There,"  said  he,  "I 
shall  labor,  if  God  permit  me. "  He  went  among  them,  and 
his  labors  were  abundant  and  blessed.  He  organized  a  church ; 
he  stirred  up  the  liberal  to  aid  him  in  the  erection  of  a  house 
of  worship,  and  on  the  24th  of  October,  that  edifice  was 
solemnly  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  Triune  God.  But 
alas,  he  was  not  there;  for  on  the  i3th  of  that  same  month, 
he  had  gone  to  his  rest. " 


REV.   SAMUEL    SPRING,   D.  D. 


67 


Rev.  SAMUEL   SPRING,  D.D. 

Samuel  Spring  was  born  at  Newburyport,  Mass. ,  March 
9,  1792.  He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Samuel  Spring  of  New- 
buryport and  of  Hannah  Hopkins,  and  a  brother  of  Dr.  Gar- 
iner  Spring  of  New  York.  He  began  the  study  of  Latin  at 
the  age  of  seven,  entered  Exeter  Academy  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  and  Yale  college  with  the  class  graduating  in  1811. 
After  leaving  college,  he  began  the  study  of  law,  then  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  business  in  Newburyport  till  the  war  of 
1812,  when  he  entered  in  partnership  with  his  brother 
Lewis  into  the  coasting  trade,  was  part  owner  of  several  vessels, 
and  master  of  one  which,  with  himself  and  crew,  was  captured 
off  Chesapeake  Bay  by  the  blockading  squadron  under 
Admiral  Cockburn.  Peace  being  declared,  he  again  engaged 
in  trade,  now  in  Boston,  and  for  a  time  in  partnership  with 
David  Hale,  afterward  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce. 
In  1816  he  married  Lydia  Maria  Norton,  the  daughter 
of  Winthrop  B.  Norton  of  Berwick,  Maine.  He  had  been 
married  five  years  and  had  two  children  when  his  mind  turned 
to  his  life  work.  He  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  in 
Andover  in  1819,  and  graduated  in  September  1821.  His 
family  was  in  Newburyport,  twenty  miles  away,  but  every 
Saturday  evening  he  walked  that  distance,  spending  Sunday 
with  them,  and  walking  back  on  Monday  in  time  for  his  early 
duties. 

Before  leaving  the  Seminary  he  was  called  to  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Abington,  Mass. ,  where 
he  continued  five  years  until  called  to  the  North  Church  in 
Hartford.  With  this  church  he  remained  for  six  years.  In 
1833  he  was  called  to  the  church  in  East  Hartford,  where  he 
continued  in  the  active  pastorate  for  twenty-nine  years,  and 
where  he  rested  in  the  evening  of  his  life  among  the  people 
of  his  love.  He  died  December  13,  1877,  and  at  sunset  on  a 
cloudless  Sabbath  day,  his  beloved  people  gathered  about  the 
open  grave,  while  reverent  hands  laid  him  to  rest. 


68 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  Dr.  SPRING. 


This  paper  was  written  for  the  anniversary  by  Mrs.  William  H.  Corning, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Spring,  and  read  at  the  Monday  afternoon  session  by  Mary  Isabel 
Corning,  his  granddaughter. 

Those  who  know  East  Hartford  only  as  it  is  to-day,  a 
growing  town,  with  five  lines  of  electric  cars  connecting  it 
with  Hartford,  its  blocks  of  stores,  the  many  cross  streets 
and  new  houses,  would  hardly  recognize  as  the  same  place, 
the  quiet  country  town  of  sixty  years  ago,  the  wide  grass  plot 
in  the  middle  of  the  elm-shaded  street,  the  houses  standing 
far  apart,  each  within  its  own  lawn  and  fence,  with  no  public 
conveyance  to  Hartford,  whither  the  old  people  went  in  their 
wagons  and  the  younger  on  foot. 

One  thing  only  remains  unchanged  amid  the  changes. 
With  its  pillared  front,  its  flight  of  stone  steps,  its  square 
tower,  the  old  church  stands  in  its  grove  of  maples,  a  fine 
type  of  the  church  building  of  its  day.  Long  may  it  remain 
so,  and  some  of  its  old  friends  wish  it  were  as  little  changed 
within  as  without. 

As  the  church  building  connects  the  old  time  with  the 
new,  so  did  the  life  of  Samuel  Spring  who  first  ministered 
within  its  walls,  and  of  whose  long  pastorate  I  am  asked  to 
give  some  remembrances  in  this  paper. 

He  came  to  East  Hartford  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  he 
came  to  stay.  After  twenty-nine  years  of  active  service, 
and  then,  at  his  own  request,  did  his  ministrations  cease. 

It  was  a  large  parish.  From  the  Willow  Brook  district, 
from  Hockanum,  from  Scotland,  now  Burnside,  Podunk, 
Long  Hill  and  Hillstown,  in  carriages  and  on  foot  the  people 
flocked  to  the  big  white  church,  and  the  staid  family  horses 
settled  themselves  in  the  sheds  at  the  back  of  the  meeting 
house  for  a  comfortable  all  day  rest,  for  there  were  two 
preaching  services,  with  an  hour's  nooning  between,  followed 
by  the  evening  prayer  meeting. 

The  north  yard  of  the  parsonage,  shaded  by  the  branches 
of  a  large  elm  and  carpeted  by  the  softest  green,  with  its 
pleasant  western  outlook  of  the  orchard  and  the  city  spires 


69 

beyond,  was  a  quiet  resting  place  on  a  summer's  day,  and 
here  comfortable  seats  were  placed,  and  in  the  Sunday  noon- 
ing's came  a  few  old  people  for  rest  and  refreshment.  It  was 
the  privilege  of  the  two  youngest  girls  at  the  parsonage  to 
minister  to  the  wants  of  these  visitors,  to  pass  the  steaming 
cups  of  tea  made  "good  and  strong"  in  the  kitchen  or  to 
draw  water  fresh  and  cool  from  the  well  close  by. 

In  the  center,  and  successively  in  the  outer  districts, 
there  was  a  Thursday  evening  lecture,  and  some  of  the  older 
people  with  us  to-day  will  remember  the  notices  given  of 
these  meetings  from  the  pulpit,  and  the  pastoral  calls  and  the 
tea  visits  made  on  those  afternoons  at  their  homes ;  at  Dr.  Eli 
Hall's  or  Mr.  Samuel  Brewer's  or  Mr.  Allen  Brewer's  in 
Hockanum,  at  the  Williams'  and  the  Comstocks'  of  Willow 
Brook,  at  the  Goodwins',  the  Forbes',  the  Hanmers'  of  Burn- 
side,  at  Capt.  Samuel  Kellogg's  of  the  Meadow. 

These  lectures  were  given  in  the  school  houses,  the  min- 
ister sitting  at  the  teacher's  desk  and  the  audience  on  the 
benches  which  the  children  used  during  the  day.  Hither  at 
"early  candle-light,"  came  his  audience  in  goodly  numbers, 
old  men  and  maidens,  young  men  and  children,  with  the  Bible 
and  the  Village  Hymns,  the  wise  virgins  "bringing  oil  in  their 
lamps."  To  these  meetings,  Mr.  Spring  often  walked,  for 
from  choice  as  well  as  economy,  he  did  not  keep  a  horse.  He 
came  to  East  Hartford  with  a  family  of  seven  children,  the 
eldest  a  girl  of  seventeen,  and  the  eighth  was  added  the  first 
year  of  his  pastorate.  His  salary  was  $800  per  year.  Judge 
if  there  was  much  to  spare  for  luxuries.  Yet  it  was  at  that 
time  a  liberal  salary  for  a  country  parish  to  pay,  and  then,  as 
in  all  the  happy  years  spent  in  their  service,  his  people  were 
most  generous  and  kind. 

The  first  house  to  which  Mr.  Spring  brought  his  young 
family  —  one  of  the  Bigelow  houses  on  Burnside  Avenue  — 
soon  proved  too  small,  it  being  found  necessary  to  lodge  two 
or  more  children  at  a  neighbor's,  at  Mrs.  Bigelow's  or 
Madame  Kellogg's,  when  agents  for  the  Bible  or  Tract  So- 
ciety and  other  clerical  guests  came  to  preach  and  to  solicit 
contributions  for  the  good  objects  they  represented.  In  these 
days  of  rapid  transit  and  hotel  accommodations,  minister's 


70 

families  are  mercifully  relieved  of  this  burden,  but  seventy 
years  ago  all  such  travelers  "put  up  at  the  minister's." 

In  this  connection  a  good  story  is  told  of  Dr.  Hawes,  the 
pastor  of  our  Mother  Church  over  the  river.  An  agent,  who 
in  his  zeal  in  soliciting  for  his  cause,  had  made  a  long  stay  at 
the  parsonage,  and  when  about  to  leave,  said,  "And  now  Dr. 
Hawes,  what  is  your  contribution  to  this  worthy  object? " 
"Boarding  the  agent  and  his  horse  a  week,"  was  the  curt 
reply. 

But  because  some  reverend  visitors  outstayed  their  wel- 
come, let  no  one  fancy  that  ministers  of  seventy  years  ago 
lacked  the  Christian  virtue  of  hospitality.  When  the  Bigelow 
house  was  no  longer  large  enough  to  hold  his  growing  family 
and  its  many  visitors,  Mr.  Spring  removed,  first  to  the  Farn- 
ham  house  near  the  head  of  what  was  then  called  Deming 
Lane,  now  Governor  street,  and,  later,  to  the  house  next  to 
the  church,  where  the  parsonage  now  stands,  a  large,  com- 
fortable dwelling,  where  there  was  room  enough  for  family 
and  guests.  Near  the  direct  road  to  the  city,  this  was  the 
favored  half-way  house  for  Mr.  Spring's  ministerial  brethren, 
and  hither  they  of  ten  came, — Northrup  of  Manchester;  Smith 
of  Glastonbury;  Prof.  Thompson  of  East  Windsor  —  the  last 
named,  a  life-long  and  dear  friend  —  with,  now  and  then,  a 
young  student  from  the  Theological  Seminary  to  advise  with 
the  minister,  or  to  chat  with  his  older  daughters. 

From  over  the  river  on  a  horse,  big  and  bony  like  him- 
self, came  Dr.  Hawes  to  counsel  and  advise  with  his  country 
neighbor.  "My  horse,"  the  Doctor  used  to  say,  with  his 
kindly  quizzical  smile,  "is  like  one  of  Brother  Finney's  per- 
fectionists, he  hasn't  a  fault,"  and  when  asked,  "  Who  takes 
care  of  him  for  you?" — "The  Rev.  Joel  Hawes,  D.  D.,"  was 
the  answer. 

He  walked  with  a  stick  and  used  to  bring  it  down  with 
force  to  emphasize  what  he  was  saying,  and  had  the  habit  of 
clearing  his  throat  with  such  power,  that  the  small  boy  at  the 
parsonage  said,  "Dr.  Hawes  a-hems  the  door  open." 

With  "  Father"  Brace  of  Newington,  there  was  a  yearly 
exchange  of  pulpits  and,  early  on  a  Sunday  morning  the  little 
folks  at  the  parsonage  used  to  peep  from  the  upper  windows, 


71 

listening,  awe-struck,   to  his  sonorous  tones,  as  he  paced  the 
garden  walk,  reading  from  his  Greek  Testament. 

Another  visitor  from  over  the  river,  a  warm  friend  of  the 
East  Hartford  minister  and  a  former  parishioner,  was  Deacon 
Seth  Terry.  Long  after  the  removal  to  East  Hartford,  he 
used  to  send  his  yearly  gift  of  a  barrel  of  flour.  One  New 
Year's  day,  came  two  barrels,  and  with  them  this  quaint  char- 
acteristic message,  "Last  night  the  Tempter  whispered  — 
'Times  are  hard,  flour  has  gone  up  in  price,  don't  send  a  bar- 
rel this  year;'  but  my  good  angel  said  'Beat  the  Devil  and 
send  two ' —  and  I  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision. " 

When  about  to  start  in  business  in  the  practice  of  law,  he 
with  his  own  hands,  nailed  his  sign  above  the  door  of  his 
house  and,  standing  before,  addressed  himself  thus:  "Seth 
Terry,  Attorney  at  Law.  Be  just  and  faithful  in  all  your 
business  dealings.  Keep  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward 
God  and  man.  When  in  your  power  help  the  fatherless  and 
the  widow.  Never  knowingly  take  the  wrong  side  of  a  case 
or  plead  or  argue  against  your  conscience. " 

The  minister's  wife  was  a  busy  woman  in  those  days. 
To  the  care  of  her  own  large  family  was  added  the  en- 
tertaining of  much  company  —  (afternoon  teas  then  meant 
coming  at  two  with  knitting' and  staying  till  dark), — attend- 
ance at  the  "  Maternal  Association,"  the  Ladies  Prayer  Meet- 
ing, calls  on  the  sick,  and  I  know  not  what  other  outside  du- 
ties, in  which  she  took  the  lead. 

But  the  great  event  of  the  year,  requiring  more  laborious 
preparation  than  a  Donation  party  or  a  Thanksgiving  dinner, 
was  the  meeting  once  a  year  of  the  Hartford  Fourth  Associa- 
tion of  Ministers.  Then  was  the  kitchen  of  the  parsonage  a 
busy  place,  preparations  for  the  great  dinner  going  on  for 
days ;  the  eldest  daughters  sharing  the  mother's  responsibility 
and  labors,  the  little  ones  looking  on  in  joyful  anticipation, 
knowing  they  should  share  the  remnants  of  the  feast. 

"Ministers  for  dinner!  Ministers  for  dinner!  "  the  small 
boy  of  the  family  shouted  on  one  such  occasion,  and  was  pres- 
ently discovered  astride  the  gate  post,  singing  to  a  tune  of  his 
own  composition  "  I's  going  to  be  a  minister!  " 

Through  the  early  years  of  his  pastorate,  Mr.  Spring  was 


72 

an  autocrat  in  the  town.  His  counsel  was  sought,  his  judg- 
ment relied  upon,  his  decision  final,  often  in  public  as  well  as 
in  private  affairs.  He  chose  and  examined  the  teachers  for 
the  public  schools  and  for  several  years,  was  the  only  school 
visitor.  He  advised  and  assisted  in  the  making  of  wills,  was 
called  upon  to  settle  family  and  neighborhood  quarrels,  and 
to  decide  the  right  and  wrong  of  a  disputed  point.  "  If  Mr. 
Spring  says  its  so,  'tis  so,"  said  one  whom  reason  and  logic 
had  failed  to  convince. 

When  a  boy  at  school  bragged  that  his  father  was  rich  for 
he  had  a  thousand  dollars  in  the  bank,  the  minister's  little 
son  retorted — "You  don't  call  that  rich  —  why,  my  father 
owns  the  whole  Congregational  Church!" 

One  of  the  early  deacons  of  the  church,  whose  memory  in 
his  old  age  sometimes  failed  him,  mistook  a  Saturday  for 
Sunday,  shaved  and  dressed,  got  out  his  horse  and  chaise  and 
insisted  on  starting  for  church.  His  wife,  failing  to  convince 
him  of  his  error  went  with  him.  As  they  drove  along,  she 
called  attention  to  men  working  in  the  fields,  but  the  deacon 
said,  "They  are  wicked  folks  breaking  the  Lord's  day."  As 
they  drew  near  the  parsonage,  the  wife  had  an  inspiration  — 
"If  Mr.  Spring  says  it  isn't  Sunday  will  you  go  home?" 
"Yes,  I  will,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  So  they  drew  rein  at 
the  parsonage,  and  when  the  minister,  in  a  few  kind  words, 
corrected  the  mistake,  without  a  word  the  deacon  turned  his 
horse's  head  homeward.  The  wife's  kindly  apology  is  worth 
recording  —  "Never  mind,  husband,"  she  said,  "it's  better  to 
be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  have  Sunday  come  than  the 
other  way. " 

In  the  good  old  time,  the  people  of  East  Hartford  were 
so  faithful  in  their  attendance  at  church  that  the  dumb 
creatures  were  trained  in  their  service  to  punctuality  in  their 
habits.  A  horse  belonging  to  two  ladies  living  in  the  north 
part  of  the  town,  which  for  years  had  carried  them  to  church, 
was  brought  at  the  usual  hour  to  the  door  one  Sunday  morn- 
ing. For  once  the  ladies  were  long  in  coming.  The  bell 
began  to  toll.  The  people  were  going  by.  Dobbin  felt  that 
he  must  do  his  usual  Sunday  duty,  and  started  at  a  slow  pace 
for  the  church  sheds,  where  he  put  himself  and  the  chaise  in 


73 

their  accustomed  place  and  stayed  quietly  till  the  service  was 
over.  When  he  saw  the  other  horses  going,  he  backed  him- 
self out  and  trotted  home,  while  Miss  Annie  and  Miss  Fanny 
heard  no  sermon  that  day. 

In  the  early  days  of  Mr.  Spring's  ministry,  there  was  a 
quarrel  in  the  singers'  seats,  so  serious  that  it  resulted  in  a 
division,  and  on  a  certain  Sunday,  there  were  two  choirs,  one 
at  either  end  of  the  gallery,  each  prepared  to  burst  forth  with 
a  flute  and  violin  and  bass-viol  when  the  hymn  should  be 
given  out.  There  was  the  opening  prayer  and  the  reading  of 
the  scriptures,  then,  in  the  hush  of  expectation  that  followed, 
the  minister,  holding  the  closed  hymn  book  in  his  hand,  said: 
"There  will  be  no  singing  to-day.  Let  us  pray."  He  called 
a  meeting  of  the  church  committee  the  following  week  and 
told  them,  if  the  trouble  continued,  he  should  resign,  for  said 
he,  "there  must  be  harmony  in  the  gallery  and  in  the  pews, 
else  I  can  do  this  people  no  good. " 

He  was  sometimes  called  to  visit  the  sick  and  to  attend 
funerals  outside  of  his  own  parish.  Once  a  poor  man,  suffer- 
ing from  an  attack  of  delirium  tremens,  begged  that  Mr. 
Spring  might  be  sent  for  "  to  pray  away  the  devils"  that  were 
tormenting  him — "the  big  devils  with  pitchforks  and  the 
little  devils  with  pins."  And  the  minister  went. 

During  the  ministry  of  twenty-nine  years,  think  of  how 
many  weddings  Mr.  Spring  officiated.  In  many  families  he 
successively  married  four  and  five  of  the  daughters  —  good 
old-fashioned  big  families  we  had  in  those  days  —  and  often, 
from  neighboring  towns,  came  couples  to  have  the  knot  tied. 

Of  his  prayers  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  dying,  and 
the  words  spoken  by  him  at  open  graves,  many  here  to-day 
have  a  tender,  sacred  remembrance.  His  was  a  deeply 
sympathetic  nature  and  he  made  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  his 
people  his  own.  "One  more  prayer,"  an  aged  saint  whispered 
with  dying  breath,  and  passed  from  earth  before  that  last 
prayer  was  ended. 

His  familiarity  with  the  scriptures,  noticeable  in  all  his 
ministrations  and  sermons,  added  a  special  dignity  and  beauty 
to  his  prayers,  and  his  love  for  the  book  Isaiah  led  him  to 
commit  to  memory  many  of  its  later  chapters  which  he  some- 


74 

times  repeated  to  the  family  and  often  to  himself  in  the  wake- 
ful nights  of  old  age.  The  hymns  learned  in  childhood  he 
loved  all  his  life  to  sing- ;  his  voice  retaining  its  sweetness  and 
purity  to  the  last. 

There  were  seasons  of  special  religious  interest  when  the 
minister's  labors  were  greatly  increased,  when  prayer  meet- 
ings were  held  at  sunrise,  a  preaching  service  every  evening, 
followed  by  an  inquiry  meeting  in  the  pastor's  study.  At 
these  times  help  was  called  in.  Dr.  Yates  once  came  from 
his  college,  and  Dr.  Nettleton,  whose  labors  at  such  seasons 
were  greatly  blessed,  rose  from  a  sick  bed  to  give  the  needed 
help.  This  good  man,  sorely  afflicted  with  a  disease  only 
death  could  cure,  must  needs  work  while  the  day  lasted.  "I 
have  been  brought  many  times  to  the  river  brink,"  he  once 
said,  "but  its  waters  were  not  cold,"  nor  did  he  find  them 
cold  when  the  last  "clear  call"  came  for  him;  but  like  Bun- 
yan's  pilgrim,  "there  being  at  that  time  a  great  calm  in  the 
river,  he  passed  over  singing." 

Though  not  of  a  strong  constitution,  spare  of  habit  and 
of  a  sensitive,  nervous  temperament,  Mr.  Spring  passed 
through  many  seasons  of  extra -labor  without  a  break-down. 
Only  once,  after  a  prolonged  strain  following  a  season  of  deep 
religious  interest,  was  his  health  seriously  impaired.  Then 
came  the  opportunity  to  take  a  voyage  to  Spain  with  his 
brother,  the  owner  of  a  sailing  vessel,  a  rest  and  change  he 
greatly  needed  and  from  which  he  returned  to  his  people 
after  a  three  months'  absence,  with  renewed  strength  and 
vigor. 

It  was  the  only  long  vacation  he  took  in  his  pastorate  of 
twenty-nine  years. 

Those  who  knew  him  intimately  remarked  his  uniform 
courtesy  and  gentleness  in  the  home  life.  He  was  never  too 
busy  to  sympathize  with  his  children's  pursuits  and  pleasures. 
There  were  swings  and  jumping  ropes  and  driving  hoops  for  his 
girls  and  boys,  and  neat  garden  plots  prepared  by  his  own  hands 
for  each  one  to  cultivate.  They  remember  how,  in  the  midst 
of  his  busy  life,  he  spared  an  hour  from  his  study  on  winter 
evenings  to  read  a  paper  of  Addison's  from  the  Spectator,  or 
a  chapter  from  one  of  the  Waverly  novels.  His  favorite  poet 


THE    PARSONAGE. 


75 

was  Cowper,  and  he  quoted  from  Milton  and  Pope.  He  de- 
lighted in  the  Latin  language  and  literature,  and  read  the 
Latin  authors  with  pleasure  in  his  last  years. 

He  was  an  attentive  and  copious  correspondent,  and  his 
letters,  beautiful  in  chirography,  were  characterized  by  an 
old-fashioned  stateliness  and  dignity  of  diction,  suggest- 
ive of  Addison,  whose  style  was  his  admiration,  and 
upon  which  he  used  to  say  his  own  was  modeled.  He  felt  a 
peculiar  tenderness  for  all  dumb  beasts.  It  grieved  him  to 
see  the  meanest  of  God's  creatures  suffer,  and  though  usually 
gentle  and  mild  spoken,  he  could  rebuke  an  act  of  wanton 
cruelty  in  no  measured  language.  He  loved  all  green  things 
growing  and  worked  many  hours  in  his  garden.  Two  large 
beds  of  asparagus  were  his  pride,  from  which  he  cut  with  his 
own  hands  neat  and  generous  bunches  to  carry  to  friends  and 
neighbors. 

Some  of  you  will  remember  how  he  loved  a  good  story 
and  how  he  made  puns  upon  his  own  name,  as  "In  other  par- 
ishes they  have  a  change  of  seasons,  but  my  people  have 
Spring  all  the  year  round." 

Once,  in  his  old  age,  he  was  greatly  amused  when  a  man 
who  was  mending  the  kitchen  clock  looked  up  from  his  work 
to  say,  "The  fact  is,  Parson,  these  springs  ain't  good  for 
much  after  they  git  old." 

Speaking  once  of  the  loss  of  some  of  his  sermons  by  the 
fire  that  destroyed  the  old  house,  he  said,  with  his  own 
pleasant  smile:  "  Perhaps  they  give  more  light  in  that  way 
than  in  any  other,"  and  "Dry  things  burn  well." 

On  the  burning  of  that  dear  house  I  need  not  dwell,  for 
some  of  you  remember,  and  all  perhaps  have  heard,  how 
the  prompt  generosity  of  his  people  restored  to  the  minister 
all  that  could  be  restored  of  what  he  had  lost ;  how,  before 
the  ruins  of  the  old  house  had  done  smoking,  there  was  nearly 
money  enough  raised  to  build  the  new. 

Dr.  Hawes  came  one  day  to  see  the  new  parsonage.  He 
went  over  it  from  garret  to  cellar,  contrasting  the  high,  well- 
lighted  rooms  with  those  in  the  old,  so  low  and  dark,  examin- 
ed the  new  furniture,  the  curtains,  the  carpets,  the  study  with 
its  new  desk,  then  a  pleasant  smile  breaking  over  his  rugged 


76 

features,  said:  "Brother  Spring,  Brother  Spring,  hadn't  I 
better  let  my  house  burn  down?  " 

Years  passed  in  happy,  prosperous  work,  then,  as  his 
sixtieth  birthday  approached,  Dr.  Spring  feared  that  he  might 
be  out-staying  his  usefulness,  and  that  his  parish  needed  a 
younger  man.  "  He  was  ever,  "  as  was  said  of  his  maternal 
grandfather  Hopkins  long  ago,  "a  man  of  an  humble  and 
modest  spirit,"  and  at  a  ministers'  meeting,  counseled  with 
his  brethren  as  to  the  advisability  of  his  giving  up  his  charge, 
stating  as  his  reason,  that  the  Jewish  priests  were  required  to 
resign  their  office  at  that  age. 

"Very  necessary  and  proper,"  said  Dr.  Bushnell,  "under 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  but  its  no  part  of  your  work  or  mine, 
Brother  Spring,  to  kill  oxen." 

To  the  advice  of  his  brother  ministers  was  added  the  per- 
suasions of  his  people,  and  Dr.  Spring  did  not  resign  his 
charge  at  sixty,  but  continued  to  labor  on  as  his  strength  per- 
mitted until,  after  a  pastorate  of  nearly  thirty  years,  and  then, 
at  his  own  urgent  request,  the  tie  between  pastor  and  people 
was  sundered. 

Later  on,  he  filled  for  a  few  years  the  position  of  chap- 
lain at  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane  in  Hartford,  where  his 
services  were  highly  valued,  both  by  patients  and  physicians. 
Many  of  his  sermons  he  re-wrote  at  this  time,  shortening 
them  and  softening  the  stern  theology  of  his  earlier  years, 
for  the  comfort  of  those  afflicted  ones. 

Within  these  sacred  walls  there  was  reverential  silence 
when  the  face  of  the  former  pastor  looked  down,  as  of  old, 
upon  the  congregation  to  whose  fathers  he  first  ministered. 

Those  men  and  women  in  middle  life  were  children  when 
he  came  to  East  Hartford.  He  had  married  them,  and  bap- 
tized their  little  ones  Who  were  to  do  the  work  of  life  when 
he  was  sleeping  in  his  grave.  When  the  voice  that  fell  so 
familiarly  on  the  ears  of  the  older  people  told  gently  and 
earnestly  the  old  story,  its  very  feebleness  made  it  effective. 

But,  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  out,  the  minister  preached 
to  his  former  charge.  His  presence  in  their  midst,  enjoying 
a  peculiarly  peaceful,  green  old  age,  was  a  sermon,  and  its 
text,  every  promise  in  the  Bible  of  God's  care  and  love  for 
his  servants  in  their  declining  years. 


77 

When  the  summons  came  to  depart  hence,  it  found  him 
willing,  even  longing  to  go.  "Do  not  hold  me  back,"  he 
said,  "  I  want  to  go  home.  It  is  but  one  step  to  the  arms  of 
my  Saviour.  How  safe  it  is  to  die!  How  easy!  What  a  com- 
fort to  think  the  great  work  of  living  is  done.  My  soul  is 
committed  to  Christ.  He  will  keep  it  to  the  end.  I  know 
in  whom  I  have  believed." 

Again,  "Do  you  want  to  know  how  I  feel  toward  the 
people  of  East  Hartford?  I  feel  as  if  they  were  my  children, 
the  little  ones  my  grandchildren,  and  when  I  see  the  little 
ones  running  about  the  streets,  I  long  to  take  them  in  my 
arms  and  to  tell  them  to  live  for  Christ,  and  to  tell  their 
parents  to  train  them  up  for  Heaven."  Some  of  his  last 
words  to  his  family  are  pleasant  to  read.  When  one  asked, 
"  Can  you  rest  a  little  now,  father,"  he  said,  "  Dear  child,  it 
is  all  rest,  for  the  everlasting  arms  are  underneath  me."  And 
when  one  spoke  of  mourning,  he  exclained,  "No,  robes  of 
rejoicing!"  With  such  glad  outbursts  did  he  welcome  the 
oncoming  of  death. 

About  five  hundred  united  with  this  church  during  the 
twenty-nine  years  of  Dr.  Spring's  ministry.  In  1852,  after  a 
season  of  religious  interest,  forty-eight  were  received  by 
profession  and  letter.  Some  of  you  remember  those  services. 
The  gathering  at  the  altar,  the  serious  upturned  faces  as  the 
solemn  vows  were  taken,  the  hushed  assembly,  and  the  sweet- 
ness and  solemnity  with  which  the  service  was  rendered. 

Of  that  company,  how  few  are  with  us  to-day!  How 
many  may  be  numbered  on  the  hillside  yonder,  by  their 
graves.  The  saintly  men  and  women  who  filled  these  seats 
and  joined  in  worship  in  these  earthly  courts  are,  we  believe, 
worshiping  to-day  in  the  heavenly,  with  him,  whose  prayers 
and  sermons  and  faithful  admonitions  were  blessed  of  God  to 
the  saving  of  their  souls. 

A  brief  extract  from  one  of  the  many  sermons  preached 
in  this  house  by  Dr.  Spring  will  perhaps  be  a  fitting  close  to 
this  paper. 

The  text  was  from  Hebrews  12:  22-23.  But  ye  are  come 
to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  I  give  the  conclud- 
ing paragraphs : 


78 

"Good  men  and  women  who  die  beyond  the  period  of 
middle  life,  find  more  in  heaven  whom  they  knew  and  loved 
than  they  have  left  on  earth.  There  children  have  met  their 
parents,  brothers,  their  sisters ;  husbands  and  wives  who  have 
walked  together  on  earth  have  there  met  to  walk  together  in 
white  robes.  How  sweet  the  thought  that  familes,  separated 
by  the  unrelenting  hand  of  death,  are  united  by  the  kindlier 
sympathies  of  heaven.  The  church  on  earth  and  the  church 
in  heaven  will  there  be  one.  Millions  of  unfallen  and  perfect 
spirits,  who  have  never  wandered  from  their  Father's  house, 
with  millions  more,  who  have  wandered  but  have  been 
brought  home  through  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  there  be  united 
in  the  sweetest  intercourse  forever.  They  shall  see  one 
another  and  hold  sweet  converse  together,  and  be  happy  in 
one  another's  society  forever.  The  peculiar  intimacy  and 
friendship,  which  individuals,  or  circles,  or  societies  have 
enjoyed  in  this  world,  shall  there  be  renewed,  exalted  and 
perpetuated  in  a  far  more  intimate  and  endeared  friendship. 

"To  us  who  remain  among  the  inhabitants  of  this  dying 
world,  the  death  of  a  loved  one  is  a  melancholy  event,  and 
we  weep  and  mourn  over  it,  but  do  we  consider  that  for  our 
mourning  below  there  is  rejoicing  above,  that  the  sad  parting 
here,  means  a  happy  meeting  there.  Those  arrivals  in  the 
heavenly  world,  that  make  homes  desolate  on  earth,  make 
joyful  reunions  in  heaven  among  those  who  are  like  the 
angels.  For  the  vacant  chair,  the  silent,  empty  rooms,  in 
these  earthly  habitations,  there  is  in  the  heavenly  the  prepar- 
ed seat,  the  glad  song  of  welcome,  and  the  dear  faces  of  our 
loved  ones  who  have  gone  before. 

"Then,  why  should  we  not  be  reconciled  to  their  depart- 
ure from  us — nay,  why  should  we  not  rejoice  over  their 
accession  to  that  happy,  happy  company? 

"I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  Blessed  are  the 
dead  which  die  in  the  Lord." 


REV.    THEODORE   J.    HOLMES. 


79 


Rev.  THEODORE  J.  HOLMES. 

Mr.  Holmes  was  born  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  April  26,  1833. 
He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1853.  The  next  three  years 
he  spent  in  teaching  at  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  in 
Hartford.  He  studied  at  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 
York,  and  graduated  from  that  institution  in  1859.  In  October 
of  the  same  year,  he  was  ordained  at  Richmond,  Vermont, 
whither  he  had  gone  under  the  direction  of  the  Vermont  Do- 
mestic Missionary  Society.  After  about  three  years'  service 
at  Richmond,  he  was  called  to  East  Hartford  and  was  installed 
pastor  of  this  church,  October  17,  1861. 

This  was  war  time.  Mr.  Holmes  recognized  his  country's 
claim  to  his  service,  and  resigned  his  pastorate  that  he  might 
be  free  to  enlist  in  the  army.  The  church,  however,  refused  to 
accept  his  resignation,  but  granted  him  an  indefinite  leave  of 
absence.  In  December,  1863,  he  enlisted  in  the  2istConn.  In- 
fantry. His  regiment  went  to  the  Rendezvous  Camp,  at  Fair 
Haven,  where  he  was  detailed  for  chaplain's  work  among  the 
thousands  of  recruits  who  were  awaiting  orders  to  the  front. 
The  following  spring  he  received  a  call  from  the  ist  Conn. 
Cavalry  and  was  mustered  in  as  their  chaplain  April,  1864. 

He  was  with  Sheridan  in  all  his  raids;  was  wounded  June 
i,  1864,  and  came  home  on  leave  of  absence;  returned  to  the 
front  in  September,  and  remained  with  his  regiment  until 
February,  1865,  when  he  was  detailed  to  act  as  aide  on  General 
Custer's  staff.  This  position  he  held  until  March,  when  he  re- 
signed and  returned  home  in  response  to  urgent  letters  written 
by  Dr.  Spring  and  others,  saying  that  he  was  greatly  needed 
in  the  church,  especially  in  view  of  a  marked  religious  interest 
which  had  been  developed. 

He  resigned  his  pastorate  of  the  East  Hartford  church  in 
1872  to  accept  a  call  to  the  Lee  Avenue  Congregational  Church, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Other  churches  which  he  has  served  are: 
The  First  Congregational  Church,  Baltimore,  Md. ,  the  First 
Church,  Newton  Centre,  Mass.,  and  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Hopkinton,  Mass.  He  has  now  returned,  after  forty-three 
years,  to  his  first  field  of  pastoral  service  at  Richmond,  Ver- 
mont. 


80 


Rev.  RICHARD  MEREDITH. 

Mr.  Meredith  is  of  Welch  ancestry.  He  was  born  in  Ire- 
land within  what  is  known  as  the  English  pale.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  and  colleges  of  his  native  land.  The  ex- 
cellence of  his  scholarship  is  shown  by  several  first-class  prizes 
taken  at  Dublin  University. 

He  began  his  ministry  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  served  under  that  denomination  at  Victory  Mills,  Galway, 
Albany,  North  Adams,  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and  Hartford. 

In  1878  he  was  called  from  the  First  Methodist  Church  in 
Hartford  to  East  Hartford.  Since  his  pastorate  here  he  has 
served  Congregational  churches  in  Leominster,  Mass.,  and 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Unable  to  be  present  at  the  anniversary,  Mr.  Meredith  ex- 
pressed his  regard  for  the  old  church  at  East  Hartford  in  the 
following  words  of  greeting  and  benediction:  "  I  should  re- 
gard it  as  no  less  than  a  distinguished  honor  to  be  permitted 
to  have  a  part  in  such  a  celebration  as  the  people  propose  and 
determine  shall  crown  two  hundred  years  of  noble  history. 

Such  a  period  in  the  lifetime  of  a  Christian  church  must  of 
course  embrace  all  sorts  of  vicissitudes  and  experiences.  But, 
through  all  the  years,  the  dear  old  church  has  stood  for  God 
and  htimanity;  for  truth  and  righteousness;  for  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  and  the  salvation  of  souls;  for  kindness,  sympathy, 
gentleness  and  consideration  for  and  toward  frailty,  weakness, 
sin,  and  suffering. 

May  God  pour  upon  it  His  richest  blessing  as  it  enters  its 
third  century !  May  the  membership  of  this  generation  be  as 
true  to  their  sacred  trust  as  those  of  former  generations !  May 
pastor  and  people  be  so  endued  with  power  from  on  high,  that 
they  shall  together  see  the  work  of  the  Lord  prospering  in  their 
hands! 

"The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all. 
Amen." 


REV.    RICHARD    MEREDITH. 


81 


Rev.  CHARLES  SUMNER  NASH,  D.  D. 

Mr.  Nash  was  born  at  Granby,  Mass.,  February  18,  1856.  . 
He  graduated  at  the  Amherst  High  School,  1873,  and  at  Am- 
herst  College,  1877.  For  three  years  following  his  graduation 
from  college,  he  was  a  teacher  at  Robert  College,  Constantino- 
ple. He  then  entered  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary, 
where  he  took  the  regular  three  years'  course  of  study,  gradua- 
ting in  1883.  He  remained  at  Hartford  the  following  year  for 
post-graduate  work  in  New  Testament  Greek. 

He  was  ordained  and  installed  at  East  Hartford,  October 
22,  1884.  During  the  first  year  of  his  pastorate  he  was  an  instruct- 
or in  Biblical  History  at  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Hartford, 
and  during  the  last  year  he  taught  elocution  at  the  same  insti- 
tution. 

The  year  following  his  dismission  from  East  Hartford 
he  spent  at  the  Seminary  as  a  teacher  of  elocution  and  New 
Testament  Greek.  In  1891  he  was  called  to  the  Pacific  Semi- 
nary at  Berkelej^  California,  where  he  now  holds  the  professor- 
ship of  Homiletics  and  Pastoral  Theology.  He  received  the 
degree,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  from  Amherst  College  in  1897. 

The  letter  of  greetings  and  congratulations  sent  by  Mr. 
Nash  gives  us  a  picture  of  the  personality  of  the  man  who  is 
still  remembered  most  affectionately  by  our  people.  Moreover, 
it  forms  in  itself  an  interesting  chapter  of  our  church's  history 
and  is  in  part  given  a  place  here. 

"Ever  since  my  privileged  years  among  you,  I  have  antic- 
ipated this  Bi-Centennial.  I  have  enjoyed  hoping  and  deter- 
mining to  be  present.  I  resolved  to  let  nothing  prevent  me. 
Yet  here  I  am  in  the  farthest  corner  of  our  land,  looking  across 
three  thousand  impossible  miles  toward  you.  I  not  only  do  re- 
gret, but  I  never  shall  cease  to  regret  my  failure.  Hitherto, 
few  ministers  have  had  my  privilege  of  being  a  pastor  of  a  two- 
hundred-years-old  church.  And  I  have  felt  that  all  who  have 
should  make  an  utmost  effort  to  share  in  the  august  celebration. 

Your  church  has  had  a  noble  history  and  is  worthy  of  the 
most  hearty  and  complete  tribute  now.  You  will  have  histori- 
cal papers  or  addresses  tracing  the  course  of  events  and  honor- 


82 

ing  the  names  of  your  saints  and  leaders.  There  have  been 
many  such,  men  and  women  of  fine  fibre  and  splendid  strength. 

I  hope  you  will  have  several  papers  giving  in  detail  the 
life-story  of  some  of  them,  "written  for  our  admonition,  upon 
whom  the  end  of  the  ages  are  come." 

I  look  back  to  my  five  years  and  a  half  among  you,  as 
every  pastor  must,  with  mingled  feelings  of  happiness  and  grat- 
itude, of  regret  and  sorrow.  So  many  good  things  in  the 
Master's  name  and  strength  we  did  together!  So  many  more 
we  might  have  done !  You  were  exceedingly  cordial  and  co- 
operative. It  was  in  your  hearts  to  move  forward,  to  make 
progress,  to  do  all  that  you  were  able  to  do.  Let  me  bear  wit- 
ness, both  grateful  and  distinct,  to  your  willingness,  your  devo- 
tion, your  faithfulness.  I  never  shall  forget  at  what  cost  of 
effort  and  in  what  a  spirit  of  helpful  service  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee used  to  meet.  I  can  see  them  now  sitting  around  in  my 
parsonage  study,  while  we  discussed  some  plan  of  work  or  en- 
couraged some  young  Christian  to  unite  with  the  church  with  the 
right  appreciation  of  the  great  act.  I  can  see  Deacon  Goodwin — 
of  sainted  memory !  —  and  the  Long  Hill  brethren,  entering  the 
parsonage  on  cold  winter  nights,  and  later  leaving  it,  with  their 
whips  in  their  hands  and  buffalo  robes  under  their  arms,  think- 
ing these  articles  safe  in  the  parsonage,  while  they  themselves 
were  present  at  any  rate.  I  am  sure  I  understand  better  now 
how  much  effort  went  into  the  right  movement  of  those  church 
affairs,  and  must  go  into  the  progress  of  every  church.  The 
trustees,  of  whom  Mr.  Ackley  was  the  efficient  chairman,  were 
always  ready  to  spend  time,  and  thought,  and  action.  The 
Sabbath  school  officers  and  teachers,  led  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Olm- 
sted  and  Miss  Annie  Olmsted,  gave  their  services  generously 
and  happily.  The  Ladies'  Society  deserves  most  honorable 
mention.  The  King's  Daughters  did  many  a  gracious  thing  to 
relieve  and  brighten  and  strengthen.  And  the  Endeavor  So- 
ciety, in  its  public  services  and  its  committee  work,  could  be 
depended  on  all  the  time.  The  primary  department  of  the 
Sabbath  school  was  a  wonderfully  bright  spot  in  our  church 
life.  I  assure  you  that  I  rejoiced  over  it  more  than  I  ever  could 
show,  for  you  do  not  need  to  be  reminded  that  I  was  a  poor 
hand  at  associating  with  the  children  and  addressing  them  on 


REV.   CHARLES    SUMNER   NASH,  D.  D. 


83 

Sunday.  There  is  one  little  thing  with  whom  I  am  learning  to 
get  on  better  in  these  last  days ;  she  may  be  able  to  teach  me 
how  to  behave  toward  the  whole  precious  lot. 

I  could  not  write  of  these  five  years  without  making  special 
reference  to  the  young  people.  Some  of  you  remember  as  viv- 
idly as  I  do  the  first  January  Communion  after  we  started  in  to- 
gether; that  day  twenty-five  young  people  stood  before  us  to 
confess  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  to  enter  into  covenant  with 
His  church.  They  had  long  been  preparing  for  the  step  and  it 
was  my  rare  privilege  as  pastor  to  thus  gather  the  harvest  of 
others'  labors.  They  were  all  sincere  and  true ;  they  were 
among  our  most  faithful  workers;  they  have  all  kept  the  faith, 
I  hope  and  believe,  and  will  keep  it  to  the  end.  Other  sincere 
and  true  ones  came  along,  time  after  time,  a  goodly  number  in 
all. 

Such  an  Endeavor  Society  as  we  had !  You  remember  the 
meeting  in  the  basement-room  to  consider  forming  a  society. 
We  reasoned  it  out,  and  then  acted  together,  strong  in  our 
unanimity,  solemn  as  men  always  are  when  undertaking  a  great 
duty  more  in  faith  than  by  sight.  Then  we  went  on  to  prove 
how  Christians  can  grow  and  serve  in  the  spirit  and  power  of 
Christ.  That  full  chapel  every  Sunday  night  was  the  place, 
not  for  display,  but  for  earnest  duty  and  hard  discipline.  This 
world  cannot  know  all  that  was  gained  and  wrought  there.  The 
heavenly  world  is  even  now  harvesting  the  seed  there  sown  in 
the  lives  of  some  dear  ones  already  translated.  Our  committee 
meetings  were  among  our  best  experiences.  The  pastor  was 
always  wanted  in  them  and  never  willingly  missed  one.  There 
our  plans  were  laid  and  our  spiritual  life  strengthened.  I  recall 
those  little  meetings  as  among  my  choicest  pastoral  associa- 
tions. 

If  I  were  with  you  while  you  celebrate,  I  should  be  aware 
of  many  changes,  all  interesting,  some  sad.  You  have  lost 
some  whom  you  can  ill  spare ;  some  of  our  leaders,  who  would 
have  rejoiced  to  see  this  two-hundredth  day.  I  may  mention 
Deacon  Goodwin,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ackley,  Mrs.  Kilbourne,  and  I 
have  in  mind  too  many  more  to  call  by  name.  A  most  noble 
company  has  gone  up  to  the  better  land  from  your  church  in 
these  two  hundred  years ;  and  the  last  ones  to  go  in  the  few  re- 


84 

cent  years  are  well  worthy,  through  the  grace  of  Christ,  to  join 
the  sainted  throng.  As  you  celebrate,  you  should  be  aware  of 
the  "great  cloud  of  witnesses;"  many  of  their  sainted  faces  you 
know  and  love ;  your  meeting  house,  your  homes,  the  very  air 
of  your  streets,  are,  to  the  awakened  soul,  full  and  fragrant 
and  a-tune  with  your  choir  invisible.  It  is  a  grateful  and 
aspiring  thing  to  live  up  toward  the  level  of  their  worth,  to  hear 
them  saying  with  Paul,  "  Be  ye  imitators  of  me,  even  as  I  also 
am  of  Christ." 

There  is  another  special  line  of  changes  in  which  I  should 
be  keenly  interested,  if  I  were  with  you;  I  mean  the  swift 
growth  of  those  who  were  children  twelve  years  ago.  Many  of 
them  I  should  hardly  recognize  now 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  strongly  my  thoughts  and  affections 
set  toward  you.  Let  me  hope  that  each  of  you  will  take  my 
personal  greeting  from  this  letter 

Good  and  great  as  your  long  past  has  been,  may  the  longer 
future  surpass  it,  not  merely  in  the  time  element,  but  in  the 
presence  of  God  with  you  and  the  triumphs  of  His  grace  in 
your  hearts." 


REV.   SAMUEL   ALLAN    BARRETT. 


85 


Rev.   SAMUEL   ALLAN    BARRETT. 

Mr.  Barrett  was  born  at  Woodstock,  Vt. ,  1861.  He  grad- 
uated at  Datmouth  College  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

For  one  year  following  his  graduation  from  college  he  was 
principal  of  Gilmanton  Academy,  Gilmanton,  N.  H.  He  then 
entered  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  where  he  took  the 
regular  three-years'  course  of  study. 

After  graduating  from  the  Theological  Seminary  he  ac- 
cepted a  call  to  the  Congregational  Church  at  Castleton,  Vt., 
where  he  was  ordained  and  installed,  February  28,  1888.  From 
Castleton  he  was  called  to  East  Hartford,  and  was  installed  here 
Dec.  17,  1890.  He  was  dismissed  May  30,  1899. 

After  leaving  East  Hartford  he  was  called  to  the  Congre- 
gational Church  at  Gilbertville,  Mass.,  where  he  remained 
until  January,  1902,  when  he  began  his  present  pastorate  at 
Florence,  Mass. 

Mr.  Barrett  entered  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry  with  the 
most  exalted  idea  of  what  the  calling  demands,  and  through 
his  devotion  to  his  ideal,  has  accredited  himself  in  his  several 
fields  of  labor  as  a  faithful  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  Cas- 
tleton he  faced  and  settled  difficult  problems  with  rare  conscien- 
tiousness and  won  a  large  place  in  the  affections  of  his  people, 
who  were  very  loth  to  part  with  him.  To  East  Hartford  he 
brought  the  same  devoted  spirit,  where  he  labored  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  church,  the  inter- 
ests of  which  were  ever  uppermost  in  his  mind.  To  his  preach- 
ing, which  was  biblical  and  spiritual  to  an  unusual  degree,  his 
iipright  life  gave  a  stamp  of  genuine  sincerity.  Faithful  in 
pastoral  duty,  and  warmly  interested  in  everything  that  looked 
to  the  welfare  of  the  young,  he  left  an  impress  upon  the  church 
and  community  that  if  sure  to  abide. 


86 


Rev.   WILLIAM    BODLE   TUTHILL. 

The  present  pastor  was  born  at  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  1867.  He 
graduated  at  Colby  College,  Waterville,  Me.,  1894.  Following 
graduation  at  college  he  studied  one  year  at  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York  City,  and  two  years  at  the  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  where  he  graduated  in  1897.  He  received  a 
call  to  the  Congregational  Church  at  Kensington,  Conn.,  and 
was  there  ordained,  Nov.  26,  1897.  He  was  called  to  East 
Hartford  in  Nov.  1899,  and  was  installed,  Nov.  7,  1900. 


REV.   WILLIAM    BODLE   TUTHILL. 


87 

MEMORIAL  TABLET. 


PATRIOTIC  EXERCISES  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  MARK- 
ING OF  THE  SITE  OF  THE  OLD  MEETING  HOUSE, 
UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  REVOLUTION  OF  EAST  HARTFORD  AND 
SOUTH  WINDSOR,  CONN. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Martha  Pitkin  Wolcott  Chapter,  held  December 
13,  1900,  the  following  motion  was  presented  in  writing  by  Miss  Frances  L. 
Roberts : 

' '  I  move  that  Martha  Pitkin  Wolcott  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution,  co-operate  with  Nathan  Hale  Lyceum  of  this  town 
in  reclaiming  and  marking  the  plot  of  ground  upon  which  stood  the  meeting 
house  of  the  Third  Church  of  Hartford,  afterward  the  First  of  East  Hart- 
ford." A  committee  was  at  once  appointed  to  act  in  the  matter,  and  the 
energy  and  enthusiasm  of  the  Chapter  was  thenceforward  devoted  to  the 
project  until  the  work  was  accomplished. 

The  work  actually  began  in  the  Nathan  Hale  Lyceum  some  time 
before  this.  This  small  debating  society  was  composed  of  young  men, 
led  by  the  Rev.  Francis  P.  Bachelor,  pastor  of  the  South  Congregational 
Church,  (Hockanum,)  East  Hartford,  Connecticut,  they  brought  much 
enthusiam  to  their  plan,  then  modestly  stood  aside  and  waived  their  right 
to  its  completion  in  favor  of  a  patriotic  society  having  a  national  organization. 

Descendants  of  the  founders  of  the  church  and  town  came  generously 
forward  with  their  gifts,  until  the  treasury  contained  a  sufficient  sum  to 
warrant  the  laying  out  and  curbing  of  the  plot  of  ground  to  be  known  as 
the  Old  Meeting  House  Green.  In  May,  1902,  a  substantial  granite  boulder 
with  a  bronze  tablet  was  placed  on  the  spot  where  the  old  meeting  house 
stood.  The  tablet  bears  this  inscription : 

OLD  MEETING  HOUSE  GREEN 

1699 — 1836 

HERE  THE  PEOPLE  MET  FOR  WORSHIP  AND 
TO  TRANSACT  ALL  PUBLIC  BUSINESS. 

THE  SECOND  HOUSE  WAS  USED  AS 
A  HOSPITAL  BY  THE  FRENCH  ARMY  1781-2. 

IN  HONOR  OF 

THE  FOUNDERS  OF  CHURCH  AND  TOWN, 
THIS  SITE  HAS  BEEN  RECLAIMED 

BY  THE 

MARTHA  PITKIN  WOLCOTT  CHAPTER, 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

1902. 


88 

ADDRESS  BY 

Miss   ANNA    M.  OLMSTED. 


Miss*Olmsted  is  Regent  of  "Martha  Pitkin   Wolcott"  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  and 
presided  at  the  afternoon  session. 


Friends  of  the  First  CJiurcJi  of  the  town  of  East  Hart- 
ford and  neighboring  towns :  For  the  past  two  days  this 
church  has  celebrated  in  various  interesting  exercises,  the 
two-hundredth  anniversary  of  its  organization.  To-day  you 
have  been  invited  to  help  us,  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  to  write  in  more  permanent  form  the  history  of 
the  first  house  where  the  founders  of  this  church  and  town 
worshiped  their  God  and  transacted  their  public  business. 

Should  the  question  be  asked  why  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution  are  interested  in  the  spot  where  this 
house  stood,  the  reply  will  be:  Because  the  first  object  of 
the  national  society  is  "To  perpetuate  the  spirit  of  the 
memory  of  the  men  and  women  who  achieved  American  in- 
dependence, by  the  acquisition  of  historical  spots,  and  the 
erection  of  monuments." 

The  spirit  of  these  men  and  women  was  born  in  their 
children  and  grandchildren,  who  bravely  resisted  oppression 
and  gave  us  that  spirit  of  independence  which  has  made  us  a 
great  nation.  The  first  settlers  of  this  town  were  simple, 
God-fearing  men,  and  they  doubtless  carried  their  profoundly 
religious  spirit  into  town  affairs, — in  those  days  of  blessed 
simplicity  before  the  political  machine  was  invented. 

In  the  hurry  and  rush  of  to-day,  it  seems  idyllic  to  con- 
template those  sober,  leisurely  times,  but  we  would  not  go 
back  to  them  if  we  could.  While  we  sigh  for  a  little  of  the 
peace  that  seemed  to  brood  over  their  lives,  we  know  our 
present  civilization  to  be  vastly  superior  to  anything  they 
could  conceive  of. 

So  far  as  our  forefathers  and  foremothers  saw  the 
light  they  lived  up  to  the  best  that  was  revealed  to  them,  and 
we  honor  them  for  it.  And  so  we  have  sought  to  reclaim 


89 

from  oblivion  the  plot  of  ground  where  they  built  their  first 
meeting  house.  How  dear  it  was  to  them  we  may  not  under- 
stand. It  was  the  center  of  their  existence.  Their  religious, 
their  social,  their  public  life  was  focused  there.  Can  we  not 
see  them  in  fancy,  plodding  through  winter  snows  to  the  cold 
church,  to  sit  in  hard,  uncushioned  pews,  with  no  other  heat 
than  the  little  warmth  from  the  coals  in  their  footstoves  ? 
Could  we  do  that?  Would  we  do  it?  Yes,  doubtless,  if  we 
thought  it  our  duty.  The  stern  stuff  of  our  fathers  is  in  us 
still,  latent  perhaps,  but  yet  ours.  And  we  can  feel  our  kin- 
ship with  them. 

The  ancient  records  of  the  church  and  town  tell  us  where 
the  first  meeting  house  stood.  Mr.  Goodwin's  admirable  his- 
tory of  East  Hartford  says,  "  It  was  begun  in  1669,  on  a  small 
hill  which  once  rose  above  the  open  ground,  near  the  junction 
of  Main  street  and  the  South  Meadow  Road."  It  goes  on 
to  say,  "The  first  preserved  record  of  a  meeting  of  the 
society  is  of  one  held  December  29,  1699,  when  William 
Pitkin,  Deacon  Joseph  Olmsted  and  Lieutenant  Hills  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  see  about  the  meeting  house,  and 
do  what  they  think  needful  in  ordering  the  same,  as  they 
think  best. "  These  three  men  constituted  not  only  a  building 
committee,  bvit  a  committee  of  general  arrangement,  with 
freedom  to  act  "  as  they  think  needful,"  and  "as  they  think 
best." 

We,  their  children  of  the  fifth,  sixth  and  seventh  genera- 
tion— so  many  of  us  gathered  here  to-day — may  be  justly  proud 
of  the  trust  reposed  in  their  honor  and  integrity.  Notwith- 
standing these  records  and  this  history,  I  venture  to  say  that 
few  of  the  younger  people  of  our  town  could  have  told  where 
the  first  church  stood  before  we  began  the  work  of  reclaiming 
the  spot.  We  have  sought  to  write  this  bit  of  history  in 
enduring  bronze  and  stone,  and  the  sympathy  we  have  met, 
the  hearty  co-operation  of  our  fellow  townsmen  and  friends 
near  and  afar,  have  encouraged  us  to  go  on.  Without  your 
help  we  could  not  have  accomplished  the  work.  Let  me 
thank  you  in  the  name  of  the  Martha  Pitkin  Wolcott  Chap- 
ter, for  your  generous  contributions  and  your  kindly  interest. 
And  I  would  ask  the  younger  generation  to  feel  a  responsi- 


90 

bility  in  keeping  up  the  spot.  As  time  goes  on  and  we  no 
longer  work,  I  trust  that  those  who  come  after  us  will  carry 
on  our  work  and  add  to  it,  so  that  the  site  of  the  first  meet- 
ing house  may  never  again  become  a  desert  of  sand,  but  may 
ever  be  a  place  of  beauty,  worthy  of  those  whom  we  have 
sought  to  honor. 


ADDRESS    BY 

Mrs.  SARA  T.  KINNEY,  State  Regent, 
Connecticut  D.  A.  R. 

A  sobering  fact  leaps  into  prominence  when  one  is  remind- 
ed that  of  the  untold  and  countless  myriads  of  human  beings 
that  have  inhabited  the  earth  since  its  beginning,  but  a  few 
hundred  names  are  recalled  to-day  with  any  degree  of  famil- 
iarity. 

From  the  time  when  "Adam  dolve  and  Eve  span,"  men 
and  women  have  had  their  distinctive  interests  and  activities, 
and  have  lived  more  or  less  strenuous  lives, — in  varying  kinds 
and  degrees,  much  such  lives  as  we  are  living  to-day. 

Since  the  creation  of  the  world  brave  men  have  fought 
and  died  for  the  sake  of  a  sacred  principle,  or  for  what  they 
fancied  was  such.  Brave  women,  too,  through  all  the  ages  have 
suffered  and  yet  have  been  strong  to  dare  and  to  do.  From  time 
immemorial,  great  deeds  of  physical  prowess  have  been  accom- 
plished and  mighty  intellects  have  struggled  for  supremacy  in 
the  arena  of  thought.  But  not  even  one  name  remains  to  tell 
the  story  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  innumerable  races  which  have 
passed  on  into  oblivion. 

In  centuries  comparatively  close  to  our  own,  a  name  here 
and  there  shines  out  like  a  star,  and  its  splendor  may,  perhaps, 
last  as  long  as  the  earth  shall  swing  upon  its  axes.  But  what 
of  the  many  others, —  who  were  they  ?  How  did  they  live  ? 
What  did  they  say  and  do,  and  what  was  their  influence  for 
good  or  for  evil  ?  Individually  they  are  as  though  they  had 
never  lived.  They  doubtless  served  their  day  and  generation 


91 

well  and  valiantly,  but  their  personality  is  now  as  vague  and 
full  of  mystery  as  is  that  of  any  possible  inhabitant  of  the  planet 
Mars,  and  their  work,  such  as  it  was, — their  mighty  deeds  of 
valor,  their  successes,  failures,  sacrifices  and  sufferings  were 
long  ago  merged  into  the  one,  great  ever-rising  tide  of  univer- 
sality,—  precisely  as  the  shining  brooks  that  go  twinkling 
through  our  green  pastures,  flow  into  and  lose  themselves  in 
the  mighty  volume  of  a  limitless  sea.  It  is  natural  and  right 
that  this  should  be  so,  but  it  is  exactly  as  natural  and  right  that 
each  generation  should  strive  to  hedge  about  its  heroes  and 
their  achievements  with  an  imperishable  bulwark  of  affection 
and  pride  and  deathless  remembrance.  And  so  far  as  this  may, 
and  can  be  done,  it  should  be  done,  for  nothing  is  more  help- 
ful or  uplifting  than  the  object  lesson  of  noble,  and  well  spent 
lives.  There  are  debts  of  honor  and  of  gratitude  that  cannot 
be  paid  in  coin  of  the  realm.  To  keep  green  the  memory  of 
the  good  and  the  great,  whether  they  were  combatants  in  the 
church  militant  or  the  church  triumphant,  is  a  duty  which 
seems  to  fall  easily  and  rightfully  and  quite  as  though  it  were  a 
sacred  obligation,  upon  certain  organizations  and  upon  a  certain 
class  of  individuals.  One  of  the  distinctive  missions  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  is  to  acquit  themselves, 
so  far  as  maybe,  of  their  share  in  the  many  long-standing  debts 
of  honor  and  of  gratitude  which  we  all  owe  to  the  founders  of 
church  and  state  in  this  country.  Do  this  they  must,  for  a  spe- 
cific duty  and  a  very  sacred  obligation  has  been  imposed  upon 
them  by  their  heredity  —  by  the  blood,  the  sacrifices,  the  pray- 
ers of  a  long  line  of  noble  ancestors,  from  whom  they  have  re- 
ceived the  golden  heritage  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  It  is 
then  no  ordinary  event  that  has  called  us  together  to-day.  In 
common  with  other  citizens  in  this  town,  the  "  Martha  Pitkin 
Wolcott "  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  has 
undertaken  to  pay  a  debt  of  gratitude,  and  to  do  special  honor 
to  the  memory  of  the  men  and  women  who  first  established  a 
house  of  meeting  and  of  worship  in  this  locality,  that  their 
names  and  their  influence  for  good  may  not  be  forgotten  by  the 
present  or  by  future  generations.  This  action  on  the  part  of 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  is  strictly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  constitutional  requirements  of  our  organization, 


92 

which,  as  many  of  you  know,  is  the  largest  patriotic,  hereditary 
organization  in  the  world,  and  the  only  one  of  its  kind  to  re- 
ceive a  charter  from  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  This 
society  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  the  memory 
of  the  men  and  women  who  gave  material  aid  to  the  cause  of 
liberty  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  is  a  memorial  es- 
tablished by  lineal  descendants  of  patriots,  that  the  names  and 
services  of  those  same  patriots  may  be  remembered  in  years  to 
come,  as  a  part  of  the  nation's  history.  By  our  constitution  we 
are  bidden : 

i st.  "To  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  spirit  of  the  men 
and  women  who  achieved  American  Independence,  by  the  ac- 
quisition and  protection  of  historical  spots,  and  the  erection  of 
monuments ;  by  the  encouragement  of  historical  research  in  re- 
lation to  the  Revolution  and  the  publication  of  its  results ;  by 
the  preservation  of  documents  and  relics,  and  of  the  records  of 
the  individual  services  of  Revolutionary  soldiers  and  patriots,  and 
by  the  promotion  of  celebrations  of  all  patriotic  anniversaries." 

2d.  "  To  carry  out  the  injunction  of  Washington  in  his  fare- 
well address  to  the  American  people,  "To  promote,  as  an  ob- 
ject of  primary  importance,  institutions  for  the  general  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge,"  thus  developing  an  enlightened  public 
opinion,  and  affording  to  young  and  old  such  advantages  as 
shall  develop  in  them  the  largest  capacity  for  performing  the 
duties  of  American  citizens. " 

3d.  "  To  cherish,  maintain,  and  extend  the  institutions  of 
American  freedom,  to  foster  true  patriotism  and  love  of  coun- 
try, and  to  aid  in  securing  for  mankind  all  the  blessings  of 
liberty." 

There  are  nearly  40,000  members  of  our  society,  and  they 
are  striving  to  live  up  to  the  happy  privileges  which  are  part 
and  parcel  of  the  honor  "  beqiieathed  down  from  many  ances- 
ters"  to  Daughters  and  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 

I  think  it  is  not  overstating  the  case  when  I  say  that  in  the 
ten  years  of  its  existence,  this  society  has  accomplished  a  won- 
derful amount  of  patriotic  and  commemorative  work.  From 
Maine  to  California  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 
are  starring  this  dear  land  of  ours  with  monuments,  not  merely 
to  the  memory  of  individuals,  but  in  honor  of  the  ideals  which 


93 

they  represented,  and  the  principles  which  actuated  the  men 
and  women  of  a  century  and  more  ago,  and  made  them  what 
they  were,  and  are,  and  ever  will  be  in  the  hearts  of  their  country- 
men. All  through  the  United  States,  and  especially  right  here 
in  the  commonwealth  of  Connecticut,  the  Daughters  are  doing 
the  kind  of  patriotic,  historical,  commemorative  and  educa- 
tional work  which  is  their's  to  do  by  right  of  inheritance,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  mandates  of  the  National  Society  of 
which  each  and  every  Daughter  is  a  member.  Not  only  are  we 
putting  new  life  into  the  dry  and  crumbling  bones  of  a  dead  and 
almost  forgotten  past,  but  our  National  Society  is  taking  its 
rightful  place  among  the  forceful  agencies  for  good  which  are 
coming  to  the  fore  in  the  new  century,  and  it  is  making  his- 
tory which  we  hope  will  prove  an  inspiration  to  future  genera- 
tions "A  people  which  takes  no  pride  in  the  achivements  of 
remote  ancestors  will  never  achieve  anything  worthy  to  be  re- 
membered by  remote  descendants. "  These  are  Macaulay's  words 
but  in  a  very  true  sense  they  belong  to  the  creed  of  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution.  *  *  * 

I  am  here  to-day  more  especially  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
pressing and  emphasizing  the  very  great  gratification  which  is 
felt  by  myself  and  by  the  sister  chapters  throughout  the  State, 
in  the  good  work  which  has  been  accomplished  by  the  "  Martha 
Pitkin  Wolcott  "  Chapter, —  an  achievement  which  has  long 
been  anticipated  as  a  possibility  and  which  comes  to  its  consum- 
mation to-day.  In  placing  a  memorial  to  mark  the  site  of  the 
first  meeting  house  in  East  Hartford,  this  Chapter  of  patriotic 
women  has  honored  not  itself  only  but  the  National  Society 
which  it  represents  in  this  community,  and  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut as  well.  I  bring  to  you,  Ladies,  greetings  from  the 
"  Daughters  "  of  Connecticut,  and  their  sincere  congratulation 
upon  the  success  of  your  effort  to  link  together  the  fragrant 
past  and  the  forceful  present  with  the  name  and  aims  of  your 
great  and  well  beloved  National  Organization.  This  Chapter 
has  not  so  large  a  membership  as  some  in  the  State,  but  it  is 
faithfully  doing  the  work  for  which  it  was  organized,  and  in 
the  D.  A.  R.  firmament  it  is  showing  itself  a  star  of  the  first 
magnitude,  and  its  light  is  shining  brightly  and  steadily  in  the 
very  beautiful  constellation  of  Connecticut  Chapters,  Daugh- 
ters of  the  American  Revolution. 


94 

I  am  conscious  of  a  wistful  hope  in  my  own  heart  that  those 
early  settlers  and  first  ministers  of  the  Congregational  Church 
in  this  town  are  cognizant  of  what  has  been  said  and  done  here 
during  the  past  three  days.  If  this  be  so,  they  are  doubtless 
filled  with  a  wordless  surprise  at  the  ceremonies  in  which  you 
have  all  been  taking  part.  They  were  modest  men.  To  serve 
God  and  win  souls  to  Christ,  was  the  business  of  their  lives, 
and  it  is  to  be  doubted  if  it  ever  occurred  to  any  one  of  them 
that  they  were  doing  more  than  any  man  should  do,  or  any- 
thing for  which  future  generations  would  be  more  than  quietly 
grateful.  Their  lives, —  like  those  of  our  Colonial  and  Revo- 
lutionary fighting  ancestors,  were  full  of  the  activities  which  per- 
tained to  their  profession,  and  to  their  own  day  and  generation. 
There  was  no  leisure  for  them  in  which  to  even  dream  of  the 
marvelous  changes  that  were  in  store  for  this  new  land  of 
Canaan.  Indeed,  our  country  had  lived  through  its  first  cen- 
tury before  its  sons  and  daughters  found  time  to  give  much 
thought  to  its  history.  They  were  far  too  busy  making  history 
to  feel  justified  in  halting  by  the  way  long  enough  to  study  in 
detail  the  wonderful  things  that  were  being  accomplished  —  the 
pathetic  sacrifices  that  were  being  made  —  and  the  moulding 
of  sterling  character  which,  all  through  the  strain  and  stress 
of  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  period,  went  steadily  on 
until  they  —  our  forefathers  and  foremothers  —  who  builded 
better  than  they  knew,  became  strong  and  virtuous  souls. 
They  passed  unscathed  through  a  fiery  furnace.  Weighed  in 
the  balance,  they  are  not  even  now  found  wanting.  They 
were  not  swayed  from  the  simple  line  of  rectitude,  which 
they  "kept  with  love's  unconscious  ease,"  and 

"The  gospel  of  such  lives  as  theirs 
Is  more  than  books  or  scrolls." 

Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  they  realized  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  the  great  on-going  struggle  for  human  freedom, 
versus  kingship, —  a  struggle  which  involved  the  right  of  every 
individual  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. "  Their 
battle  is  over, —  their  victory  won — and  those  early  victors  in 
church  and  state,  rest  from  their  labors.  Time,  opportunity 
and  inclination  are  now  ours  in  which  to  sum  up  results  and 
to  try  and  realize,  as  never  before,  something  of  the  magni- 


THE   BOULDER  AND  TABLET. 


95 

tude,  the  dignity  and  the  virility  of  the  patriotic  and  religious 
movement  which  led  to  the  founding  of  this  great  republic. 

A  study  of  the  religious,  political  and  social  causes  which 
made  it  possible  and  necessary  for  the  colonies  to  cut  loose 
from  Mother  England's  apron  strings,  may  well  be  regarded 
as  a  part  of  the  work  of  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. It  is  also  our  blessed  privilege  to  keep  green  the  mem- 
ory of  the  heroes  and  heroines  whose  blood  throbs  in  our 
veins. 

Their  names  should  be  household  words  with  us;  the  he- 
roic deeds  of  the  fathers,  and  the  noble  heroism  of  the  self- 
effacing  mothers,  should  be  twice  told  tales  in  every  home. 
The  reverent  care  of  the  lowly  and  almost  forgotten  mounds 
which  cover  the  sacred  dust  of  our  dead,  of  more  than  a  cen- 
tury ago,  should  be  one  of  the  coveted  privileges  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  placing  of  me- 
morials to  those  who  fought  the  good  fight,  either  upon  the 
battle-field,  or  beneath  the  sounding-board  —  the  cultivation  of 
a  broader  and  more  comprehensive  spirit  of  patriotism  and  of 
reverence  for  the  traditions  and  customs  of  a  noble  past, — 
wise  and  legitimate  efforts  for  municipal  reform,  and  a  vigorous 
stand  for  the  permanence  of  the  American  Sabbath, —  all  these 
things  come  directly  within  the  province  of  patriotic  women 
as  well  as  men, — and  in  doing  them  we  shall  demonstrate 
anew,  and  in  a  far  higher  and  nobler  sense  than  ever  before, 
our  inalienable  right  to  bear  that  most  honorable  title  of 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 

Perhaps  the  best  service  this  society  can  render  our  coun- 
try is  one  which  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  every  true  Daughter 
of  the  American  Revolution,  and  the  one  to  which  many  are 
giving  their  most  earnest  thought  and  attention.  It  is  in  con- 
nection with  the  children  in  these  United  States,  children  of 
both  native  and  foreign  parentage.  To  bring  the  latter  to  a 
realizing  sense  of  their  obligations  to  the  land  of  their  adop- 
tion,—  to  make  it  easy  for  them  to  understand,  and  possible 
for  them  to  assimilate  our  American  customs,  beliefs  and  prin- 
ciples ;  to  instill  all  alike  with  profound  respect  for  law,  and 
the  blessings  of  liberty  as  distinguished  from  license, —  this, 
too,  is  one  of  the  distinctive  missions  of  our  patriotic  organ- 
ization. 


96 

If  we  should  haply  accomplish  even  the  half  of  what  we 
hope  to  do, —  if  we  succeed  in  inspiring  the  boys  and  girls  of 
to-day  with  a  truer  love  of  home  and  country  than  is  some- 
times to  be  found  among  them ;  if  we  can  stimulate  them  to 
a  profounder  loyalty  to  the  flag  that  floats  over  them  —  if  we 
can  stir  these  embryo  statesmen  and  possible  presidents  with 
' '  high  hopes  of  living  to  be  brave  men  and  worthy  patriots, 
dear  of  God,  and  famous  to  all  ages, —  if  all  this,  or  any  part 
of  it,  should  be  the  outcome  of  our  patriotic  and  educational 
efforts,  then  will  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 
know  that  they  have  not  failed  in  their  duty  to  the  past,  or 
their  obligations  to  the  future. 


ADDRESS   BY 

Rev.  THEODORE  J.  HOLMES. 


The  students  of  the   High   School,  by  special  invitation,  were  present  at  this 
session,  and  the  address  was  directed  particularly  to  them. 


One  of  the  old-time  stories  about  the  Revolution  is  that 
when  Washington  was,  on  a  certain  day,  being  welcomed  in 
one  of  the  Connecticut  towns  by  a  crowd  of  children,  he  said 
to  his  staff:  "We  may  be  beaten  by  the  English,  it  is  the 
chance  of  war ;  but  there  is  an  army  they  can  never  conquer. " 
He  thought  the  acquirement  and  preservation  of  a  free  country 
depended  on  the  young  people.  That  is  about  the  idea  in  the 
minds  of  the  ladies  who  put  upon  their  program  this  afternoon 
a  short  talk  to  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  High  School.  They 
thought  no  celebration  of  the  old  days  would  be  complete,  if 
you  did  not  have  a  hand  in  it,  because  it  is  for  you  and  the 
generation  whom  you  represent  to  keep  alive  in  the  future 
the  spirit  which  created  the  republic  more  than  a  century 
ago.  The  liberties  which  they  won,  you  are  expected  to  hold. 
And  to  fulfill  this  mission  will  require  the  same  qualities 


97 

which  characterized  them  —  courage,  fortitude,  devotion. 
You  do  not  realize  what  you  are  told  often,  that  there  is  room 
for  such  virtues  in  the  commonest  experiences  of  life. 

The  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  are  doing  good  service 
in  marking  the  sites  of  the  old  buildings,  the  old  events,  to  per- 
petuate their  inspiring  memories.  There  are  so  many  of  these 
memorials  in  this  state  alone,  and  one  of  the  most  interesting 
of  them  referred  to  here  to-day  is  Putnam's  Den.  Did  you 
ever  visit  that  spot?  If  not,  you  ought  to. 

The  youngest  of  you  remember  about  it:  how  Putnam 
a  farmer  in  that  vicinity  was  annoyed  a  great  deal  by  wolves, 
one  night  losing  seventy  sheep  which  they  carried  off.  He 
started  at  once,  with  a  party  in  pursuit  of  them,  tracked  one 
to  the  river  and  then  back  to  his  den.  A  colored  man,  in- 
vited to  go  in  after  the  beast,  declined.  A  dog,  also  invited, 
refused,  whereupon  Putnam  said  there  shouldn't  be  a  coward 
in  his  family,  and  in  he  went,  with  a  torch  in  one  hand  and 
a  musket  in  the  other,  down  a  decline  of  fifteen  feet,  then 
along  a  level  of  ten  feet,  then  up  an  ascent  of  fifteen  feet, 
and  there  he  saw  the  monster,  with  his  fierce,  hungry  looking 
eyes,  shot  him  and  dragged  him  out. 

When  I  was  there  one  day,  a  little  boy  who  was  with 
me  crawled  in  a  few  feet  to  show  he  was  not  afraid,  but 
he  crawled  back  in  a  hurry,  because,  he  said,  he  saw  in 
there  a  yellow  mouse!  He  is  a  man  now,  and  has  since 
learned  there  are  better  ways  to  show  courage.  The  spirit 
which  Old  Put  exhibited  then,  and  through  his  brilliant 
career  afterwards  as  a  soldier,  is  always  possible  in  fighting 
the  dangers  that  confront  us  in  common  life.  Any  good- 
looking  boy  has  that  stuff  who  can  meet  a  sharp  temptation 
bravely  and  put  it  where  it  belongs,  under  his  feet ;  or  who 
can  tackle  promptly  and  heartily  some  positive  task  or  duty, 
and  do  it,  at  any  cost.  Of  course  this  is  a  quality  that  does 
not  concern  the  boys  alone.  Virtue,  you  know,  means  man- 
liness, but  that  is  not  a  matter  of  sex.  Some  of  the  manliest 
people  in  the  world  are  women.  It  was  so  in  the  Revolution. 

Speaking  of  Pomfret,  when  you  are  in  that  vicinity 
don't  fail  to  visit  the  neighboring  town  of  Hampton  and 
ask  them  to  show  you  the  house  that  was  built  literally  by 


98 

the  mothers  of  the  Revolution.  In  1776,  when  Putnam  was 
rallying-  in  that  region  the  force  which  did  such  effective  ser- 
vice at  Bunker  Hill,  he  took  all  the  men  he  could  find  from 
the  towns  around,  persuaded  them  to  follow  his  example,  to 
leave  their  work,  on  the  farm,  in  the  shop  or  store  or  factory, 
just  as  it  was,  and  run  to  the  front.  One  little  company  of 
his  recruits  had  been  engaged  in  preparations  to  erect  a 
dwelling ;  they  had  the  frame  all  ready,  when  they  heard  in 
the  valley  below,  the  fife  and  drum  calling  them  to  action. 
They  responded  without  delay ;  the  timbers  were  left  upon 
the  ground  and  they  fell  into  line,  to  join  the  Continental 
Army.  Then  the  women  rallied;  they  could  not  fight,  but 
they  could  stay  well  by  the  stuff ;  they  could  look  after  things 
at  home,  and  among  other  things  there  was  that  dwelling. 
They  resolved  to  arise  and  build.  Gathering  their  force  from 
the  neighborhood  around,  they  pressed  into  the  work  a  car- 
penter who  was  too  lame  to  be  a  soldier,  and  under  his  direc- 
tion, they  lifted  the  frame  and  completed  the  building-,  which, 
they  tell  us,  stands  to  this  day.  That  is  only  an  illustration 
of  the  courage,  the  zeal,  the  unquestioning  devotion  by  which 
women  have  always  proved  their  patriotism.  And  I  am  sure 
that  is  the  ideal  cherished  by  the  girls  of  the  present  genera- 
tion. 

But  while  we  recall  the  grand  spirit  of  those  women  and 
men  of  the  Revolution,  in  their  fight  against  British  tyranny, 
is  it  not  a  joy  to  think  that  the  old  enmity  between  the  mother 
country  and  her  colony  is  all  forgotten,  and  that  we  remem- 
ber only  the  principles  which  were  then  established,  principles 
recognized  to-day  as  heartily  over  there  as  they  are  in  this 
land.  At  a  great  Anglo-American  dinner  in  London,  three 
or  four  years  ago,  it  is  said,  representative  Englishmen  joined 
with  Americans  in  applauding  the  triumph  of  American 
liberty;  in  acknowledging  freely  that  George  III  was  wrong, 
and  this  country  was  right.  The  presiding  officer,  Lord  Col- 
eridge, declared:  "That  the  union  of  the  two  nations  by 
kinship,  race,  language,  and  literature,  was  a  far  more  certain 
source  of  strength  than  any  formal  alliance."  We  cannot 
know  yet  how  much  this  unwritten  alliance  means  for  the 
United  States  and  for  the  world. 


99 

Rejoicing  in  such  unity,  which  we  trust  will  never  be 
broken,  it  is  natural  to  think  at  this  memorial  time  of  the 
unity  which  prevails  among-  all  parts  of  our  land.  This 
week  you  will  be  decorating  the  graves  of  those  who  fell  in 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Yet  we  have  forgotten  the  old 
enmity  and  remember  only  the  principles  which  were  estab- 
lished. The  wars  in  Cuba  and  the  Philippines  have  done 
more  to  promote  a  hearty  and  abiding  reconstruction  than 
could  ever  have  been  accomplished  by  argument  or 
diplomacy,  or  by  the  constraint  of  legislation.  As  our  army 
and  our  navy  were  rallied  from  every  section  of  the  land,  we 
sang  of  them : 

' '  They  are  Yankees,  they  are  Johnnies, 

They're  for  North  and  South  no  more, 
They  are  one  and  glad  to  follow, 

Where  Old  Glory  goes  before." 

If  only  that  spirit  can  prevail;  if  we  can,  as  a  people, 
stand  together,  north  and  south  and  east  and  west,  that  will 
keep  Old  Glory  waving  full  and  strong  during  the  century, 
the  centuries  to  come;  that  will  achieve  our  ideal  of  the 
Republic : 

"  One  flag,  one  land,  one  heart,  one  hand,  one  nation, 
evermore. " 


PRESENTATION   ADDRESS   BY 

Rev.  FRANCIS    P.  BACHELER. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  'Tis  an  honor  indeed  to  stand 
here  as  the  spokesman  of  the  patriotic  society  which  donates 
this  magnificent  memorial  to  our  town ;  an  honor,  however, 
from  which  one  would  modestly  shrink  did  not  this  great 
stone  speak  so  eloquently  for  itself  that  one  need  but  inter- 
pret its  utterance,  adding  nothing. 

This  rock  stands  as  the  record  of  religious  and  civic 
virtues  exercised  by  the  first  settlers  and  their  descendants 


100 

from  the  beginning-  of  this  town  to  the  year  1836.  But  I  will 
refer  only  to  that  period  in  which  the  generous  donors  of  this 
stone,  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  must  be 
especially  interested  —  the  period  of  struggle  against  Great 
Britain.  This  is  a  ponderous  rock,  and  yet  every  grain  of 
its  great  weight  is  significant. 

Some  years  ago  I  found  myself  in  correspondence  with  a 
New  England  society  engaged  in  searching  out  and  appropri- 
ately marking  the  graves  of  Revolutionary  soldiers.  At  that 
time  I  learned  that  it  was  the  wives  and  mothers  of  the  com- 
munities, which  had  been  swept  of  all  able  bodied  men  by  the 
war,  who  visited  camps,  battle-fields  and  hospitals,  to  claim 
and  carry  home  for  burial  in  the  quiet  churchyard  of  the 
hamlet,  the  bodies  of  husbands  and  sons.  There  were  none 
to  help  them,  no  means  of  public  transportation,  so  the 
bereaved  women  of  the  Revolution,  like  them  of  Palestine, 
went  early  to  the  sepulchre  to  bear  away  the  bodies  of  their 
dead.  The  Revolution  has  been  painted  in  the  stalwart  valor 
of  Bunker  Hill,  in  the  bloody  snows  of  Princeton,  in  the 
white  death  of  Valley  Forge,  and  in  the  glowing  triumphs 
of  Yorktown,  but  the  Revolution  will  never  be  truly  painted 
until  some  artist  puts  on  the  canvas  this  scene :  —  a  wearied 
horse -slowly  drawing  a  rough  farm  wagon  in  which  is  seated 
a  weeping  woman.  The  cart  holds  a  coffin.  Let  all  this  be 
seen  at  the  turn  in  the  road,  where  the  lane  from  the  farm 
house  enters  the  highway.  At  this  turn,  stand  the  children 
in  tearful  silence,  for  this  is  father's  home-coming.  The 
mother  looks  at  them  and  knows  how  little  her  slender  hands 
can  do  for  them,  knows  the  snows  will  sweep  down  on  the 
farmhouse  and  find  its  hearth  fireless,  that  want  will  invade 
it  and  find  its  cupboard  bare,  that  hunger  and  cold,  nakedness 
and  want  must  be  the  portion  of  the  little  ones  into  whose 
quivering  up-turned  faces  she  gazes.  Now  let  the  artist  paint 
the  truth  and  put  into  her  face  all  the  anguish  and  tears  and 
broken-heartedness  of  a  life  on  which  rests  a  stony  grief.  He 
talked,  she  remembers,  with  blazing  eyes  of  liberty,  but  now 
that  glowing  face  must  mingle  with  the  clods  of  the  valley. 
The  bosom  that  held  her  close  in  parting,  no  longer  throbs 
with  love ;  the  hands  that  so  eagerly  served  her  are  folded  in 


101 

unwonted  ease ;  her  husband  is  dead.  Here  is  the  tragedy  of 
the  Revolution ;  to  die  is  not  a  grief,  but  to  live  bereaved ;  to 
know  hourly  in  the  isolated  farmhouse  a  haunting  loneliness, 
to  suffer  want  and  to  mourn. 

On  the  hearts  of  the  wives  and  mothers  of  the  colonies 
who  gave  husbands  and  sons  to  liberty,  there  fell  grief  like  a 
stone,  a  grief  which  no  angel  of  consolation  could  roll  away. 
That  sorrow  this  heavy  stone  doth  typify. 

The  great  sculptors  of  Europe  have  chosen  to  represent 
war  as  a  youth  of  powerful  limbs  and  mature  strength,  hel- 
meted  in  brass,  clad  in  steel,  with  every  power  of  mind  and 
body  in  superb  perfection. 

But  how  unfit  such  a  personification  of  war  in  the  Revo- 
lution. 

Here,  where  we  stand,  here  there  came  forth  from  the 
meeting  house  where  the  news  of  contests  in  Massachusetts 
had  been  the  theme  of  the  sermon,  an  aged  man  who  lifted 
his  hat  in  unconscious  consecration,  saying,  "I  have  but  few 
years  left,  I'll  give  my  life  for  liberty."  But  the  boy  at  his 
grandfather's  side  caught  the  word  and  his  gentle  cheek  sud- 
denly burned  with  high  resolve,  "I'll  go  with  you,  grand- 
father;" and  while  their  eyes  still  searched  one  another's  souls, 
a  third  voice  speaks,  the  voice  of  the  son  and  father,  a  man  of 
middle  life,  "I  have  long  intended  to  enlist;  now  I  start  at 
once."  Not  here,  but  on  the  battle-field,  do  we  see  them  again. 
The  scant  white  locks  of  the  old  man  are  flying  in  the  wind ; 
a  bloody  handkerchief  is  knit  about  his  brow,  but  from  his 
shrill  fife  comes  unbrokenly  the  wild  and  thrilling  music  of 
battle.  The  boy  is  by  his  side,  his  eyes  fixed  on  his  grand- 
sire's  face,  while  under  his  swift  hands  the  throbbing  drum 
sends  forth  its  constant  thunder.  The  third  figure  is  there, 
all,  all  in  glorious  van.  But,  alas ! 

' '  The  brave  went  down !    Without  disgrace 
They  leaped  to  ruin's  red  embrace ; 
They  only  heard  fame's  thunder  wake, 
And  saw  the  dazzling  sun-burst  break  in 
In  smiles  on  glory's  blood}'  face." 

I  know  not  whether  it  be  the  highest  art  or  the  happiest 
of  happy  chances,  but  the  granite  of  this  rock  doth  truly  sym- 


bolize  what  no  sculptor  could  have  set  forth  in  the  "beautiful 
and  conventional  figures  of  war.  The  valor  of  the  aged  and 
feeble,  of  the  young  and  tender,  of  the  mature  and  strong, 
was  like  this  rock,  granite,  and  against  it  as  against  a  rock  the 
power  of  England  broke. 

"In  vain  the  "grenadier"  set 
His  breast  against  the  bayonet. 

In  vain  the  "  British"  squadrons  charged  and  raged 
A  tigress  in  her  wrath  uncaged 
Till  all  the  hill  was  red  and  wet." 

Lastly,  the  archaeologist  finds  in  Wiltshire,  England,  a 
Druid  altar.  There  is  a  legend  that  at  that  altar  the  Druid 
priests  while  celebrating  the  mystic  rites  of  their  religion,  of- 
fering human  sacrifices,  the  sacred  mistle-toe  wreathing  their 
brows,  and  bloody  knives  in  their  hands,  were  slain  by  the 
swords  of  an  alien  soldiery.  Here  hath  been  set  up  on  Amer- 
ican soil  the  very  image  of  that  famous  Druid  altar,  and  I 
can  see  in  this  rock  nothing  else  than  a  place  of  sacrifice. 
On  that  rock,  across  the  sea,  the  fairest  youths  were  slain  and 
presented  in  sacrifice  to  heathen  gods.  Here,  here  we  will 
consecrate  ourselves  and  our  children  to  the  true  God,  teach- 
ing them  under  the  shadow  of  this  rock  those  lessons  of  cour- 
age and  virtue  which  it  commemorates,  then,  whether  at  home 
or  abroad,  in  war  or  in  peace,  their  lives  are  spent,  God  shall  be 
honored  and  the  republic  served.  I  beseech  you  brethren,  by 
the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  yourselves  and  your  chil- 
dren here  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God  which 
is  your  reasonable  service.  And  now,  in  the  name  of  the 
Martha  Pitkin  Wolcott  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  I  present  this  memorial  to  the  town  of  East 
Hartford,  doing  this  to  the  •  glory  of  God  and  the  edification 
of  mankind.  Amen. 


"THE  GIFT  OF  THE 

*HON'BL   WM.   PITKIN,  ESQ'R, 

TO  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE 

30  SOCI'Y,  HARTFORD." 


"  THE  GIFT  OF 
COL.  JOHN    PITKIN, 
TO    THE    CHURCH    OF    THE 
SOCI'Y,   HARTFORD." 


Other  cups  of  the  Communion  Service  now  in  use  were 
also  given  to  this  Church  before  it  became  the  First  Church 
of  East  Hartford  in  1783,  by 

CAPTAIN    RUSSELL   WOODBRIDGE, 
MR.   ELISHA    PITKIN. 

One  cup  bearing  the  date,  June,  1802,  was  the  gift  of 
DEACON   TIMOTHY    COWLES. 


*  Governor  of  the  Colony,  1766—1769. 


103 


DEACONS. 


JOSEPH  OLMSTED,  CHOSEN 

TIMOTHY  COWLES, 
JOHN   GOODWIN, 
JOSEPH  OLMSTED, 

COL.  JOSEPH  PITKIN,  1748 

JONATHAN  HILLS,  1748 

JOHN  PITKIN,  i752 

WILLIAM  COWLES.  1752 

WILLIAM   PITKIN,  JR.,  1760 

SAMUEL  SMITH,  1775 

JOSEPH  MEKENS,  1775 

ASHBEL  PITKIN,  (declined)  1772 

but  appears  as  deacon  later 
CAPT.  JOHN  WELLS  (declined)  1778 

JOHN  GOODWIN  1780 
ELISHA  PITKIN,  ESQ.  (decl'd)  1790 

TIMO:  COWLES,  1790 

MOSES  SMITH,  1793 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,  1801 

COL.  JONATHAN  WELLS,  1802 

DR.  EPAPHRAS  BIDWELL,  1810 


CHOSEN. 

ELIAB  PRATT,  1813 

JOHN  JUDSON,  1817 

JOB  PORTER,  1834 

J.  HUBBARD  WELLS,  1840 

JARED  A.  AYERS,  1847 

SOLOMON  OLMSTED,  1847 

EDWARD  HAYDEN,  1847 

HORACE  WILLIAMS,  1855 

GEORGE  GOODWIN,  1856 

DAVID  L.  WILLIAMS,  1862 

JOHN  B.  SMITH,  1863 

GEORGE  H.  GOODWIN,  1874 

ASHBEL  BREWER,  1874 

AARON  G.  OLMSTED,  1875 

MARTIN  ROBERTS,  1875 

ELIZUR  R.  ENSIGN,  1876 

WILLIAM  H.  OLMSTED,  1891 

ALFRED  E.  KILBOURNE,  1894 

GEORGE  W.  SMART,  1894 

C.  HENRY  WILLIAMS,  1902 


104 


PRESENT  OFFICERS  OF   THE 
CHURCH. 

Pastor. 
REY.  WILLIAM  B.  TUTHILL. 

Deacons. 

DAVID  L.  WILLIAMS,  GEORGE  W.  SMART, 

ALFRED  E.  KILBOURNE,  C.  HENRY  WILLIAMS, 

Standing  Committee. 

REV.  WILLIAM  B.  TUTHILL,  CHAIRMAN, 

GEORGE  GOODWIN,  CLERK, 

DAVID  L.  WILLIAMS,  GEORGE  W.  SMART, 

ALFRED  E.  KILBOURNE,  C.  HENRY   WILLIAMS, 

HORACE  B.  WILLIAMS,  ERASTUS  C.  GEER, 

HARRY  D.  OLMSTED,  WALDO  J.  DRIGGS, 

FREDERICK  H.  AVERY,  C.   HENRY  OLMSTED, 

MRS.  WM.  B.  TUTHILL,  MRS.  JOSEPH  O.  GOODWIN. 

Board  of  Trustees. 

ALFRED  E.  KILBOURNE,  CHAIRMAN, 
C.  HENRY  OLMSTED,  CLERK, 

GEORGE  A.  WILLIAMS,  C.    HENRY  WILLIAMS, 

FREDERICK  COMSTOCK,  WILBUR  S.  BURNHAM, 

ERASTUS  C.  GEER. 

Clerk. 
HARRY  D.  OLMSTED. 

Treasurer. 
ERASTUS  C.  GEER. 

Auditor. 
HENRY  B.  HALE. 

Historian. 
LILLIE  M.  HUNTTING. 

Sexton. 
DANIEL  L.  BRYAN. 

The  Choir. 

MR.  L.  B.  HAWLEY,  ORGANIST  AND  DIRECTOR, 
Miss  A.  LOUISE  GILMAN,  SOPRANO, 
MRS.  FRANK  S.   FORBES,  CONTRALTO, 
MR.  FRANK  P.  PERRY,  TENOR, 
MR.  F.  J.  BENDALL,  BASS. 


105 

The  Sunday  School. 

C.  HENRY  OLMSTED,  SUPERINTENDENT, 
HORACE  B.  WILLIAMS,  ASSISTANT, 
ANNIE  E.  OLMSTED,  LADY  ASSISTANT, 
RAYMOND  S.  GAINES,  REGISTRAR, 
ARTHUR  H.  GAINES,  ASSISTANT, 
C.  HENRY  WILLIAMS,  LIBRARIAN, 
MARY  S.  BURNHAM,  SECRETARY, 
WILBUR  S.  BURNHAM,  TREASURER. 

Junior  Department. 

MRS.  JAMES  R.  TUCKER,  SUPERINTENDENT, 
ETHEL  P.  RIST,  ASSISTANT. 

SOCIETIES  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  CONGREGATION, 

Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society. 
MRS.  GEORGE  BISSELL,  PRESIDENT. 

Mission  Circle. 
MRS.  GEORGE  A.  WILLIAMS,  PRESIDENT. 

Auxiliary  Woman's  Board  of  Missions. 
MRS.  WILLIAM  B.  TUTHILL,  PRESIDENT. 

King's  Daughters  Circles. 

READY  TEN. 
Miss  ANNA  M.  OLMSTED,  LEADER. 

"MINISTERING"  DOUBLE  TEN. 
MRS.  GEORGE  A.  BOWMAN,  LEADER. 

Young   People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 
JAMES  JOHNSTON,  JR.,  PRESIDENT, 
ARTHUR  H.  GAINES,  VICE  PRESIDENT, 
FLORENCE  R.  WILLIAMS,  SECRETARY, 
MABEL  H.  GOODWIN,  CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY, 
WALTER  M.  GILBERT,  TREASURER, 
GEORGE  GOODWIN,  UNION  DIRECTOR. 

Junior  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 
MABEL  H.  GOODWIN,  SUPERINTENDENT. 


106 
COMMITTEES   ON   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

REV.  WM.  B.  TUTHILL,  CHAIRMAN. 

Entertainment. 

MRS.  GEORGE  BISSELL,  Miss  LAURA  COWLES, 

Miss  CLARA  H.  BEAUMONT,         WILBUR  S.  BURNHAM, 
MRS.  ALBERT  H.  LATHROP,        ALBERT  A.  FORBES, 

Invitation. 

Miss  ANNA  M.  OLMSTED, 

MRS.  GEORGE  H.  GOODWIN,        EDWARD  A  WILLIAMS, 
MRS.  O.  D.  RIST,  HENRY  B.  HALE, 

Meetings  and  Program. 

HORACE  B.  WILLIAMS,  Miss  ANNIE  E.  OLMSTED, 

MRS.  GEORGE  A.  BOWMAN,          DAVID  L.  WILLIAMS, 
MRS.  JOSEPH  O.  GOODWIN,          MRS.  WILLIAM  B.  TUTHILL, 

Decorations. 

C.  HENRY  OLMSTED, 

C.  T.  HOLLISTER,  Miss  MAUDE  A.  BEAUMONT, 

EVERETT  E.  ARNOLD,        MRS.  HENRY  R.  HAYDEN,  Jr., 
MRS.  FREDERICK  T.  MOORE,   MRS.  CHARLES  C.  HANMER. 

Historical. 

Miss  FRANCES  L.  ROBERTS,         MRS.  CAROLINE  R.  BOYNTON, 
MRS.  GRACE  W.  WEATHERBY,    Miss    MARY   ISABEL    CORNING, 
GEORGE  GOODWIN,  ALFRED  W.  DRIGGS, 

Musical. 

ROBERT  E.  S.  OLMSTED. 

FRDERICK  H.  AVERY,  MRS.  LOREN  G.  TERRY, 

MRS.  A.  EDWARD  OLMSTED,       FREDERICK  COMSTOCK, 
MRS.  GEORGE  A.  WILLIAMS,       Miss  LILLIE  M.  HUNTTING, 

Souvenir  and  Printing. 
HARRY  D.  OLMSTED, 
ERASTUS  C.  GEER,  Miss  HARRIET  T.  KILBOURNE, 

Finance. 

ERASTUS  C.  GEER, 
HARRY  P.  BREWER,  GEORGE  W.  SMART. 

Chief  Usher. 
HOWARD  C.  GAINES. 


SC 

O 


107 


HISTORICAL   EXHIBIT. 


Written  by  Grace  Weld  Weatherby,  a  member  of  the  Historical  Committee. 


In  connection  with  the  Bi-Centennial,  the  Historical 
Committee  prepared  a  loan  collection  of  old  furniture,  china, 
silver,  pictures,  and  manuscripts  which  filled  three  rooms  of 
the  chapel.  The  articles  of  this  exhibit,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions were  contributed  by  residents  of  the  town — many  of 
them  direct  descendants  of  its  early  settlers  and  founders. 

In  the  main  room  was  placed  the  fine  furniture  of  the 
Colonial  period  —  the  towering- highboy,  the  inlaid  card  table, 
the  straight-backed  sofa,  the  great  winged  chair,  the  carved 
chest,  the  lowboy,  the  slender  candle  stands,  and  the  beautiful 
Chippendale  chairs  and  couch,  once  the  property  of  the  Hon. 
Elisha  Pitkin.  On  the  platform  stood  the  massive  high- 
backed,  three-cornered  "  chair  of  state"  of  Hon.  William 
Pitkin,  governor  of  the  colony  from  1766  to  1769,  and  on  the 
wall  beside  it  hung  a  proclamation  whose  time-stained  paper 
bore  his  official  signature.  In  two  corner  cupboards,  taken 
from  old  houses  in  the  town,  were  gathered  the  precious  bits 
of  old  china,  Delft  and  silver  lustre,  quaint  tea  pots  and  flow- 
ered "custard"  cups,  old  Staffordshire  ware,  and  the  black 
and  white  prints  known  as  Newhall,  flanked  by  ancient  "flip" 
tumblers  of  generous  dimensions.  Shining  candlesticks  and 
gilt  candelabra  graced  the  colonial  mantelpiece  and  beneath 
gleamed  a  pair  of  polished  brass  andirons,  an  old-time  wed- 
ding gift.  Family  portraits  looked  down  upon  the  visitor 
from  marvelous  cap  borders,  or  over  ruffled  shirt  fronts. 
There  were  mirrors  with  gaily  painted  landscapes  set  in  gilt 
frames  with  pendent  balls  and  one  wreathed  with  lilies  and 
nodding  wheat,  which  may  have  reflected  the  features  of 
Count  de  Rochambeau  as  it  hung  in  the  old  Pitkin  house 


108 

his  headquarters  during  part  of  the  autumn  of  1780.  A  glass 
case  near  the  mantel  held  the  treasured  pieces  of  family  sil- 
ver and  the  first  seven  communion  cups  given  to  the  church 
by  individual  members,  each  bearing  the  name  of  the  donor. 

The  second  room  reproduced  an  old-time  kitchen.  Here 
was  the  stone  fireplace,  with  its  swinging  crane  and  attendant 
kettles,  the  iron  "fire-dogs"  and  twirling  broiler,  the  warm- 
ing-pan and  foot-stove,  while  on  the  shelf  were  ranged  the 
iron  candlesticks  and  pierced  lantern.  Above  all  hung  the 
old  flintlock  and  powder  horn.  Close  by  the  fireplace  was  the 
high-backed  settle,  and  behind  it  the  great  woolen  wheel,  the 
smaller  flax  wheel  keeping  company  with  grandmother's  ban- 
ister-backed rocker  and  bible  stand.  Here  was  the  tall  dresser 
with  its  shining  rows  of  pewter,  the  flat-topped  highboy  on 
whose  crown  of  "  steps"  was  set  the  blue  and  white  ware  and 
the  "sailor"  pitcher,  the  frugal  supper  table  with  its  splint- 
bottomed  chairs,  its  homespun  cloth  laid  with  wooden  spoons 
and  trencher,  polished  pewter  plates  and  mugs.  A  chair- 
table  stood  in  a  far  corner,  and  a  tall  clock,  made  by  a  local 
dealer,  ticked  off  the  hours  as  of  old ;  while  on  a  side  wall 
swung  the  lantern  of  the  old  Welles  Tavern,  where  President 
Monroe  lodged  in  1817. 

In  the  little  north  room,  known  for  the  time  as  the  "  Min- 
ister's Study,"  were  gathered  articles  belonging  to  the  former 
pastors  of  the  church.  Beside  a  quaint  Franklin  stove  stood 
the  great  three-cornered  study  chair  of  "Priest"  Williams, 
and  across  the  hearth  a  round-backed  "Windsor,"  with  its 
spreading  desk-like  arm,  once  the  property  of  Dr.  Yates,  Mr. 
Williams' successor.  Just  beyond  "Priest"  Williams'  chair 
was  his  small,  square  table,  with  his  smoking  kit,  and  here  too 
was  the  round  center  tip-table,  the  high-backed  Dutch 
chairs,  and  the  tall  secretary,  on  whose  open  lid  stood  the 
hour  glass  which  tradition  says  he  was  wont  to  turn  twice 
during  his  morning  discourse.  Beside  it  lay  the  closely- 
written,  stained,  and  yellowed  pages  of  a  sermon,  delivered 
by  him  February  19,  1775.  At  the  opposite  end  of  the  room 
was  the  low  desk  of  Dr.  Samuel  Spring,  every  year  of  whose 
long  pastorate  strengthened  the  tie  between  him  and  the  people 
of  his  charge.  His  photograph  and  that  of  his  wife  stood  on 


THE  CORNER 

CUPBOARD. 


PARSON 
WILLIAMS' 

DESK. 


THE  KITCHEN  FIREPLACE. 


GLIMPSES  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  EXHIBIT. 


109 

the  top  of  the  desk  and  two  sermons  in  his  beautiful,  clear 
handwriting  lay  on  its  open  front.  Here  too  were  the  leather- 
bound  books  of  the  early  period  —  old  pamphlets,  hymn  books 
which  recalled  the  days  when  the  riddle  and  bass-viol  were 
used  in  the  church  service,  and  a  well-preserved  Bible  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 

A  beautiful  collection  of  water  color  sketches  of  old  houses 
in  the  town  added  much  to  the  interest  of  the  exhibit. 

The  Historical  Committee  also  marked  the  graves  of 
the  ministers  and  deacons  of  the  church  down  to  1850,  indi- 
cated by  suitable  signs  places  and  sites  of  historic  interest, 
such  as  "Priest"  Williams'  house,  the  headquarters  of  Count 
de  Rochambeau,  the  site  of  Governor  William  Pitkin's  house, 
and  that  of  the  tavern  where  Lafayette  stopped  in  1824  and 
issued  a  plan  of  Main  street,  from  about  1640  to  1836. 

This  account,  though  necessarily  brief,  embodies  the  work 
of  the  Committee  and  indicates  the  main  features  of  the 
exhibit. 


110 


MEETING   HOUSE  GREEN. 
RecUimvd    And   m«rH«<i.    by 

MARTHAPlTKINWOLCOTT 

CHAPTER, DA  R.,May 


Ill 


CeMrafion 

of  f§c 

Congr^gafionaf 

of 


MAY   25TH.    TO   27TH. 


112 


JProgram. 


SUNDAY,  MAY  25TH. 

J0.45  A.  M. — Morning:  Worship. 

PRELUDE:     Andante  from  "  First  Concerto,"  Handel 

DOXOLOGY. 

INVOCATION. 

RESPONSIVE  READING:     Lesson  39. 

GLORIA. 

HYMN  No.  142:     "  Ye  Servants  of  God." 

SCRIPTURE  LESSON,*  Rev.  F.  P.  Bacheler 

ANTHEM:     "All Hail  the  Power,"  Smith 

CHOIR. 
PRAYER. 

SOLO:     "O  God  have  Mercy,"  from  "St.  Paul," 

MR.  R.  E.  s.  OLMSTED.  \_Mendelssohn 

NOTICES. 

OFFERING. 

SERMON,  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes 

PRAYER. 

HYMN,     No.  924:   "Oh,  Where  are  Kings  and  Empires  Now." 

BENEDICTION. 

POSTLUDE:     March  in  G.  Major,  Guilmant 

*Read  from  a  Bible  printed  in  1599,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  George  A. 
Williams. 


113 

3.00  P.  M. —  Sunday  School  Service. 
HYMN  No.  155:     "  Angel  Voices. " 
SCRIPTURE  READIM;. 

SINGING,  Primary  Department 

PRAYER. 
SOLO:     "  The  New  Kingdom,"  Tours 

Miss  FLORENCE   E.  CROSBY. 

ADDRESS,  Mr.  John  B.  Smith 

SINGING,  Primary  Department 

ADDRESS,  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes 

HYMN  No.  729:   "Stand  up  for  Jesus." 
BENEDICTION. 

7.30  P.  M. —  Musical  Service  with  Greetings. 
PRELUDE:     Vorspiel  to  "  Otho  Viscanti,"  Glcason 

ANTHEM:     "Lovely  Appear,"  from  "The  Redemption." 

\Gounod 

SCRIPTURE  READING. 

HYMN  No.  6:     "Sweet  is  the  Light  of  Sabbath  Eve." 

PRAYER. 

"LEAD  KINDLY   LIGHT,"  Buck 

TEMPO    QUARTET. 

Greetings  from  "The  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Hartford," 

REV.  MELANCTHON    W.  JACOBUS,  D.  D. 

"42d  PSALM,"  Mendelssohn 

Greetings  from  "  The  Second  Church  of  Christ "  in  Hartford 

REV.  EDWIN   P.    PARKER,  D.  D. 

ANTHEM:     "Unfold  Ye  Portals  Everlasting," 

from  "The  Redemption,"    Gounod 
BENEDICTION. 
POSTLUDE:     Grand  Choeur,  Dubois 


114 

MONDAY,    MAY   26TH. 

2.30  P.  M.  — Greetings  and 

Recollections  of  Dr.  Spring 

HYMN  No.  1004:     "The  Church's  One  Foundation." 
SCRIPTURE  READING  AND  PRAYER,  Rev.  W.  F.  Taylor 

SOLO;     "Sion,"  Paul  Rodney 

MR.  GILBERT  LOVELL. 

FRATERNAL  GREETINGS: 
From  the  Congregational  Church  at  South  Manchester 

REV.  GEORGE  W.  REYNOLDS. 

From  the  Congregational  Church  at  Hockanum 

REV.  F.   P.   BACHELER. 

From  the  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church  at  East  Hartford 

REV.  JOHN   J.   McCOOK,  D.  D. 

From  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Burnside 

REV.  WILLIAM   J.  SMITH. 

HYMN  No.  941 :     "Blest  be  the  Tie  that  Binds." 
ADDRESS:     Recollections  of  Dr.  Spring, 

MRS.  MARY    SPRING   CORNING. 

HYMN  No.  948:     "  For  all  Thy  Saints  who  from  their  Labors 

Rest." 
BENEDICTION. 

8.00  P.M. —  Historical  Service. 

PRELUDE  :     Chant  Pastoral,  Dubois 

HYMN  No.  298:     "Our  God  Our  Help  in  Ages  Past." 
SCRIPTURE,  Rev.  George  A.  Bowman 

PRAYER,  Rev.  Frederick  A.  Avery* 

ANTHEM:     "  Before  Jehovah's  Awful  Throne." 

(This  Anthem  was  sung  at  the  dedication  of  the  present 
Church  building,  January  20,  1836.) 

HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH,  Mr.  Harry  D.  Olmsted 

HYMN  No.  952:     "O  God  of  Bethel." 

BENEDICTION. 

POSTLUDE:     Priest's  March,  from  "Athalia,"          Mendelssohn 

*Unable  to  be  present,  this  part  was  taken  by  Rev.  Lyman  Warner. 


115 
TUESDAY,  MAY   27-rn. 

2.30  P.M. —  Patriotic  Exercises  in  connection 
with  the  marking  of  the  site  of  the  Old 
Meeting  House,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  of 
East  Hartford  and  South  Windsor,  Conn. 

Music,  Hatch's  Military  Band 

SCRIPTURE  READING  AND  PRAYER,  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Tuthill 

OPENING  REMARKS,  Miss  Anna  M.  Olmsted,  Regent 

"Martha  Pit  kin    Wolcott"  Chapter,  D.A.R. 

HYMN  No.  1156:     "O  God  Beneath  Thy  Guiding  Hand," 
[Tune  —  "MISSIONARY  CHANT."] 

ADDRESS:  Mrs.  Sara  T.  Kinney,  State  Regint 

Connecticut  D.  A.  R. 

Music,  Hatch's  Military  Band 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  STUDENTS  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL, 

Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes 

HYMN  No.  1161:     "  My  Country  'tis  of  Thee." 

March  from  tlic  Church  to  the  Meeting  House  Green 
wliere  the  exercises  will  be  continued  as  follows : 

SINGING:     "Star  Spangled  Banner,"  School  Children 

PRESENTATION  OF  MEMORIAL  TO    THE  TOWN, 

Rev.  Francis  P.  Bacheler 

(  Miss  Ella  S.  Olmsted 
UNVEILING  OF  TABLET,  \  ,,.      ,,         ,,    0 

(  Miss  Mary  E.  Sperry 

RESPONSE  FOR  THE  TOWN,  Mr.  William  H.  Brewer 

DOXOLOGY. 

BENEDICTION,  Rev.  George  A.  Bowman 


I 

116 

8.00  P.M.— Closing  Service. 

PRELUDE:     Andante  Cantabile, 

String  Quartette,  Op.  u,    Tschaikowsky 

"THE  HEAVENS  ARE  TELLING,  from  "The  Creation,"  Haydn 

PRAYER. 

SOLO     "  Rejoice  Greatly,"  from  "  The  Messiah,"  Handel 

Miss  MARY    T.    STOUGHTON. 

"HALLELUJAH,"    from  " The  Messiah, "  Handel 

ADDRESS:     The  Modern  Religious  Feeling, 

REV.  WILLARD   SCOTT,  D.  D. 

HYMN  No.  930.      "A  Mighty  Fortress  is  Our  God." 
BENEDICTION. 

PUSTLUDE:     Rakoczy   March, 

from  "Damnation  of   Faust,"  Berlioz 


A  loan  collection  of  articles  of  interest  connected  witJi  the 
history  of  the  Cliurch  and  Town,  will  be  on  exhibition  after- 
noons and  evenings,  except  during  the  services  when  it  will  be 
closed. 


Supper  will  be  served  in  the  dining  room  of  the  CJiurcli 
Monday  and  Tuesday  afternoons  for  all  wJio  wish  to  stay  to  the 
evening  services. 

An  informal  Reception  will  be  held  in  the  Chapel  at  the 
close  of  the  Tuesday  evening  service. 


117 

Pastor, 
REV.  WILLIAM  B.  TUTHILL. 

Organist  and  Choir  Master, 
Mr.  L.  B.  HAWLEY. 

C  Miss  A.  LOUISE  OILMAN,  Soprano. 

Church  Choir:    \  MrS'   FRANK  S'  F°RBES'  Contral{°- 

Mr.  WILL.  CARR,    Tenor. 

\  Mr.  F.  J.  BENDALL,   IJass. 

ASSISTED    BY 

Mr.  R.  E.  S.  OLMSTED,  Musical  Director. 

Tempo  Quartet. 

Mr.  H.  L.  MAERCKLEIN,  ist  Tenor. 
Mr.  W.  J.  CARROLL,  ad  Tenor. 
Mr.  T.  E.  COUCH,  ist  Bass. 
Mr.  E.  L.  COUCH,  zd  Bass. 

Mrs.  F.  A.  SMITH, 

Miss  MARY  T.  STOURHTON,  \  Soprano. 

Mrs.   A.  B.  JUDD, 

Miss  FLORENCE  E.  CROSBY,  Contralto. 
Mr.  H.  F.  FARNHAM,  Tenor. 
Mr.  GILBERT  LOVELL,  Baritone. 
CHORUS.  HATCH'S  BAND. 


A     000105651     4 


